dead

[ ded ]

adjective

, dead·er, dead·est.

1. no longer living; deprived of life:

   dead people;

   dead flowers;

   dead animals.

   Antonyms: alive, living

2. brain-dead.
3. not endowed with life; inanimate:

   dead stones.

4. resembling death; deathlike:

   a dead sleep;

   a dead faint.

5. bereft of sensation; numb:

   He was half dead with fright.

   My leg feels dead.

6. lacking sensitivity of feeling; insensitive:

   dead to the needs of others.

   Synonyms: cold, callous, indifferent, unfeeling

7. incapable of being emotionally moved; unresponsive:

   dead to the nuances of the music.

8. (of an emotion) no longer felt; ended; extinguished: dead affections.

   a dead passion;

   dead affections.

9. no longer current or prevalent, as in effect, significance, or practice; obsolete:

   a dead law;

   a dead controversy.

10. no longer functioning, operating, or productive:

    a dead motor;

    a dead battery.

    Synonyms: inoperative, inert

11. not moving or circulating; stagnant; stale:

    dead water;

    dead air.

    Synonyms: motionless, still

12. utterly tired; exhausted:

    They felt dead from the six-hour trip.

13. (of a language) no longer in use as a sole means of oral communication among a people:

    Latin is a dead language.

14. without vitality, spirit, enthusiasm, or the like:

    a dead party.

15. lacking the customary activity; dull; inactive:

    a dead business day.

16. complete; absolute:

    dead silence;

    The plan was a dead loss.

    Synonyms: total, entire, utter

17. sudden or abrupt, as the complete stoppage of an action:

    The bus came to a dead stop.

18. put out; extinguished:

    a dead cigarette.

19. without resilience or bounce:

    a dead tennis ball.

20. infertile; barren:

    dead land.

    Synonyms: sterile

21. exact:

    the dead center of a circle.

22. accurate; sure; unerring:

    a dead shot.

23. direct; straight:

    a dead line.

24. tasteless or flat, as a beverage:

    a dead soft drink.

25. flat rather than glossy, bright, or brilliant:

    The house was painted dead white.

26. without resonance; anechoic:

    dead sound;

    a dead wall surface of a recording studio.

27. not fruitful; unproductive:

    dead capital.

28. Law. deprived of civil rights so that one is in the state of civil death, especially deprived of the rights of property.
29. Sports. out of play:

    a dead ball.

30. (of a golf ball) lying so close to the hole as to make holing on the next stroke a virtual certainty.
31. (of type or copy) having been used or rejected.
32. Electricity.
    1. free from any electric connection to a source of potential difference and from electric charge.
    2. not having a potential different from that of the earth.
33. Metallurgy. (of steel)
    1. fully killed.
    2. unresponsive to heat treatment.
34. (of the mouth of a horse) no longer sensitive to the pressure of a bit.
35. noting any rope in a tackle that does not pass over a pulley or is not rove through a block.

noun

1. the period of greatest darkness, coldness, etc.:

   the dead of night;

   the dead of winter.

2. the dead, dead persons collectively:

   Prayers were recited for the dead.

adverb

1. absolutely; completely:

   dead right;

   dead tired.

2. with sudden and total stoppage of motion, action, or the like:

   He stopped dead.

3. directly; exactly; straight:

   The island lay dead ahead.

dead

/ dɛd /

adjective

1. 1. no longer alive
   2. ( as noun )

      the dead

2. not endowed with life; inanimate
3. no longer in use, valid, effective, or relevant

   a dead issue

   a dead language

4. unresponsive or unaware; insensible

   he is dead to my strongest pleas

5. lacking in freshness, interest, or vitality

   a dead handshake

6. devoid of physical sensation; numb

   his gums were dead from the anaesthetic

7. resembling death; deathlike

   a dead sleep

8. no longer burning or hot

   dead coals

9. (of flowers or foliage) withered; faded
10. prenominal (intensifier)

    a dead loss

    a dead stop

11. informal.
    very tired
12. electronics
    1. drained of electric charge; fully discharged

       the battery was dead

    2. not connected to a source of potential difference or electric charge
13. lacking acoustic reverberation

    a dead surface

    a dead sound

14. sport (of a ball, etc) out of play
15. unerring; accurate; precise (esp in the phrase a dead shot )
16. lacking resilience or bounce

    a dead ball

17. printing
    1. (of type) set but no longer needed for use Compare standing
    2. (of copy) already composed
18. not yielding a return; idle

    dead capital

19. informal.
    certain to suffer a terrible fate; doomed

    you're dead if your mother catches you at that

20. (of colours) not glossy or bright; lacklustre
21. stagnant

    dead air

22. military shielded from view, as by a geographic feature or environmental condition

    a dead zone

    dead space

23. dead as a doornail informal.
    completely dead
24. dead from the neck up informal.
    stupid or unintelligent
25. dead in the water informal.
    unsuccessful, and with little hope of future success

    the talks are now dead in the water

26. dead to the world informal.
    unaware of one's surroundings, esp fast asleep or very drunk
27. leave for dead
    1. to abandon
    2. to surpass or outdistance by far
28. wouldn't be seen dead in informal.
    to refuse to wear or to go to

noun

1. a period during which coldness, darkness, or some other quality associated with death is at its most intense

   the dead of winter

adverb

1. (intensifier)

   dead easy

   stop dead

   dead level

2. dead on
   exactly right

Derived Forms

• ˈdeadness, noun

Other Words From

• dead·ness noun
• half-dead adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of dead¹

First recorded before 950; Middle English deed, Old English dēad; cognate with Gothic dauths, German tot, Old Norse daudhr; originally, past participle; die ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of dead¹

Old English dēad; related to Old High German tōt, Old Norse dauthr; see die ¹

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. dead in the water, completely inactive or inoperable; no longer in action or under consideration:

   Our plans to expand the business have been dead in the water for the past two months.

2. dead to rights, in the very act of committing a crime, offense, or mistake; red-handed: Also Chiefly British, bang to rights.

   Just when you think you’ve got the killer dead to rights, you find out there’s a whole lot more going on.

More idioms and phrases containing dead

• beat a dead horse
• caught dead
• cut someone dead
• drop dead
• knock dead
• more dead than alive
• over my dead body
• quick and the dead
• stop cold (dead)
• to wake the dead
• death

Synonym Study

Dead, deceased, extinct, lifeless refer to something that does not have or appear to have life. Dead is usually applied to something that had life but from which life is now gone: dead trees. Deceased, a more formal word than dead, is applied to human beings who no longer have life: a deceased member of the church. Extinct is applied to a species, genus, or the like, no member of which is any longer alive: Mastodons are now extinct. Lifeless can be applied to a living thing that no longer appears to be alive ( the lifeless body of an unidentified man ) or to something that may never have been a living thing ( the lifeless materials of these minerals ).

Example Sentences

“And the wrong decision is not something you can come back from. You’re dead.”

From BBC

By August 2019, having been in the Army for less than a year, Khalife was collecting £1,500 in a dog poo bag from a “dead drop” in Mill Hill Park, north London.

From BBC

People whose idea of a good time is strapping a dead panda to a Lincoln Navigator and chasing down gay pride protesters.

From Salon

At least 13 people have been killed in a landslide in eastern Uganda, but officials fear that the true number of dead is much higher as at least 40 houses were swept away.

From BBC

After her mother’s death, she learns that her brother, Orville, whom she believed dead, is alive.

From Los Angeles Times