smartphone zombie
- noun
- Offensive
:
zombi del móvil
- There are so many smartphone zombies bumping into people on the sidewalk.
Examples
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Look at that smartphone zombie walking into the street!
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The city launched a campaign to warn smartphone zombies about road safety.
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Don't be a smartphone zombie when you cross the street.
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Many smartphone zombies fail to notice their surroundings.
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Don't be a smartphone zombie when you cross the street.
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The city launched a campaign to warn smartphone zombies about road safety.
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Many smartphone zombies fail to notice their surroundings while walking.
Synonyms
140
4.9
A person who moves and acts without energy or interest
1
8.2
A person who is very tired and cannot think or pay attention
A person who looks at their phone and ignores people and things around them
A person who checks and uses phone apps all the time
Antonyms
How Distracted
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and compositionally derivable from 'smartphone' (a phone with internet/apps) + 'zombie' (a person acting apathetically or like an automaton): it denotes someone behaving like a zombie because of smartphone use and being oblivious to their surroundings. This transparent noun+noun compounding and figurative mapping is straightforward and common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
Smartphone zombie compares a person so focused on their smartphone to a zombie who walks without thinking. This simple image explains why it means 'not aware of their surroundings' when someone is using their phone.