Skip to main content
dead body

dead body

234 1.6
A person or animal that is no longer alive
  • noun
  • /dɛd ˈbɑdi/
translation icon : cadáver
  • In horror movies, it's common to find a dead body in creepy locations.
  • see a dead body

The streets are just piled with dead bodies, not from war, but from disease.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • The scenes on television of dead bodies, hungry people, and devastated settlements were disturbing.

    Academic text (2005)
  • I've never seen a dead body before.

  • Are you ever scared of finding a dead body in one of these rooms?

    Fiction book (1996)
  • People are not supposed to eat or drink while a dead body is lying in their house.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • The streets are just piled with dead bodies, not from war, but from disease.

  • Soldiers were coming out of them and gathering the dead bodies to load them into the vans.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • They started stacking up the dead bodies at the top of that hill.

  • I don't want to see another dead body, and I know you don't.

  • The detective found a dead body in the abandoned house.

  • During the investigation, they discovered several dead bodies hidden in the forest.

Synonyms

body
vsdead body
1.6

The dead remains of a person or animal

is the general word covering any such remains
corpse
vsdead body
362 4.9

A dead body of a person

is broader by including animals as well as humans
remains
vsdead body
  • Formal
171 6.0

The body parts left after a person has died

is the plain general term for that same physical material
dead person
vsdead body
99 1.0

A person who is no longer alive

refers instead to the physical remains rather than the individual
cadaver
vsdead body
  • Specialized
55 8.2

A dead human body used for medical study or teaching

is the neutral term for any dead human or animal remain
stiff
vsdead body
  • Slang
11 9.1

A dead body of a person

is the neutral non slang expression used in general speech
deceased person
vsdead body
  • Formal
3 2.1

A person who is dead

focuses on the actual remains not the named individual
mort
vsdead body
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A dead person or animal

is the modern neutral phrase for that same idea
lich
vsdead body
  • Archaic
9.9

A dead body often mentioned in old stories or books

is the everyday neutral expression for such physical remains
deadman
vsdead body
  • Archaic
9.9

An old word for a dead person

is the modern neutral term for a person's physical remains

Antonyms

2 3.4

A person or animal that is not dead

Surface Forms

dead body singular
dead bodies plural

Morphology

dead + body

The meaning is directly compositional: 'dead' (not alive) modifies 'body' (physical remains), so a learner who knows both words will infer 'dead body' as a corpse. This is a literal adjective + noun construction common across languages and standard English, making it immediately understandable to B1 learners.

Etymology

Dead body is a simple picture: dead means not alive and body means the person's body, so it refers to a 'corpse'.