DEAD

Pronunciation (US):

• DEAD (noun)
  The noun DEAD has 2 senses:

1. people who are no longer living
2. a time when coldness (or some other quality associated with death) is intense

  Familiarity information: DEAD used as a noun is rare.

• DEAD (adjective)
  The adjective DEAD has 21 senses:

1. no longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life
2. not showing characteristics of life especially the capacity to sustain life; no longer exerting force or having energy or heat
3. very tired
4. unerringly accurate
5. physically inactive
6. total
7. not endowed with life
8. (followed by 'to') not showing human feeling or sensitivity; unresponsive
9. devoid of physical sensation; numb
10. lacking acoustic resonance
11. not yielding a return
12. not circulating or flowing
13. out of use or operation because of a fault or breakdown
14. not surviving in active use
15. lacking resilience or bounce
16. no longer in force or use; inactive
17. no longer having force or relevance
18. sudden and complete
19. drained of electric charge; discharged
20. lacking animation or excitement or activity
21. devoid of activity

  Familiarity information: DEAD used as an adjective is very familiar.

• DEAD (adverb)
  The adverb DEAD has 2 senses:

1. quickly and without warning
2. completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers

  Familiarity information: DEAD used as an adverb is rare.

• DEAD (noun)

Sense 1

dead [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

People who are no longer living

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Context example:

they buried the dead

Hypernyms ("dead" is a kind of...):

people ((plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively)

Meronyms (members of "dead"):

dead person; dead soul; deceased; deceased person; decedent; departed (someone who is no longer alive)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dead"):

slain (people who have been slain (as in battle))

Antonym:

living (people who are still living)

Sense 2

dead [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

A time when coldness (or some other quality associated with death) is intense

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Context example:

the dead of winter

Hypernyms ("dead" is a kind of...):

time (an indefinite period (usually marked by specific attributes or activities))

• DEAD (adjective)

Sense 1

dead [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

No longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life

Context examples:

the nerve is dead / a dead pallor / he was marked as a dead man by the assassin

Similar:

executed (put to death as punishment)

fallen (killed in battle)

late (having died recently)

exanimate; lifeless (deprived of life; no longer living)

murdered (killed unlawfully)

nonviable (not capable of living or developing successfully)

slain (killed; 'slain' is formal or literary as in)

stillborn ((of newborn infant) showing no signs of life at birth; not liveborn)

stone-dead (as lifeless as a stone)

doomed (marked for certain death)

defunct (having ceased to exist or live)

deathlike; deathly (having the physical appearance of death)

d.o.a. (abbreviation for 'dead on arrival' at the emergency room)

cold (lacking the warmth of life)

breathless; inanimate; pulseless (appearing dead; not breathing or having no perceptible pulse)

brain dead (having irreversible loss of brain function as indicated by a persistent flat electroencephalogram)

bloodless; exsanguine; exsanguinous (destitute of blood or apparently so)

assassinated (murdered by surprise attack for political reasons)

asleep; at peace; at rest; deceased; departed; gone (dead)

Attribute:

aliveness; animation; life; living (the condition of living or the state of being alive)

animation; vitality (the property of being able to survive and grow)

Antonym:

alive (possessing life)

Sense 2

dead [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Not showing characteristics of life especially the capacity to sustain life; no longer exerting force or having energy or heat

Context examples:

Mars is a dead planet / a dead battery / dead soil / dead coals / the fire is dead

Similar:

barren (incapable of sustaining life)

extinct; out (being out or having grown cold)

lifeless (not having the capacity to support life)

out of play ((of a ball))

Also:

extinct ((of e.g. volcanos) permanently inactive)

Antonym:

live (exerting force or containing energy)

Sense 3

dead [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Very tired

Synonyms:

bushed; beat; all in; dead

Context examples:

was all in at the end of the day / so beat I could flop down and go to sleep anywhere / bushed after all that exercise / I'm dead after that long trip

Similar:

tired (depleted of strength or energy)

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

Sense 4

dead [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Unerringly accurate

Context examples:

a dead shot / took dead aim

Similar:

precise (sharply exact or accurate or delimited)

Sense 5

dead [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Physically inactive

Context example:

Crater Lake is in the crater of a dead volcano of the Cascade Range

Similar:

extinct ((of e.g. volcanos) permanently inactive)

Sense 6

dead [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Total

Synonyms:

utter; dead

Context examples:

dead silence / utter seriousness

Similar:

absolute (perfect or complete or pure)

Sense 7

dead [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Not endowed with life

Synonyms:

nonliving; non-living; inanimate; dead

Context examples:

the inorganic world is inanimate / inanimate objects / dead stones

Similar:

nonconscious (relating to the lack of consciousness of inanimate things)

Attribute:

aliveness; animateness; liveness (the property of being animated; having animal life as distinguished from plant life)

Sense 8

dead [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

(followed by 'to') not showing human feeling or sensitivity; unresponsive

Synonyms:

numb; dead

Context examples:

passersby were dead to our plea for help / numb to the cries for mercy

Similar:

insensitive (deficient in human sensibility; not mentally or morally sensitive)

Sense 9

dead [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Devoid of physical sensation; numb

Synonyms:

deadened; dead

Context examples:

his gums were dead from the novocain / she felt no discomfort as the dentist drilled her deadened tooth / a public desensitized by continuous television coverage of atrocities

Similar:

insensitive (not responsive to physical stimuli)

Sense 10

dead [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Lacking acoustic resonance

Context examples:

dead sounds characteristic of some compact discs / the dead wall surfaces of a recording studio

Similar:

nonresonant; unreverberant (not reverberant; lacking a tendency to reverberate)

Sense 11

dead [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Not yielding a return

Synonyms:

idle; dead

Context examples:

dead capital / idle funds

Similar:

unprofitable (producing little or no profit or gain)

Sense 12

dead [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Not circulating or flowing

Synonyms:

stagnant; dead

Context examples:

dead air / dead water / stagnant water

Similar:

standing ((of fluids) not moving or flowing)

Sense 13

dead [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Out of use or operation because of a fault or breakdown

Context examples:

a dead telephone line / the motor is dead

Similar:

malfunctioning; nonfunctional (not performing or able to perform its regular function)

Sense 14

dead [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Not surviving in active use

Context example:

Latin is a dead language

Similar:

extinct; nonextant (no longer in existence; lost or especially having died out leaving no living representatives)

Sense 15

dead [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Lacking resilience or bounce

Context example:

a dead tennis ball

Similar:

inelastic (not elastic)

Sense 16

dead [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

No longer in force or use; inactive

Synonyms:

defunct; dead

Context examples:

a defunct (or dead) law / a defunct organization

Similar:

inoperative (not operating)

Sense 17

dead [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

No longer having force or relevance

Context example:

a dead issue

Similar:

noncurrent (not current or belonging to the present time)

Sense 18

dead [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Sudden and complete

Context example:

came to a dead stop

Similar:

complete (having every necessary or normal part or component or step)

Sense 19

dead [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Drained of electric charge; discharged

Synonyms:

drained; dead

Context examples:

a dead battery / left the lights on and came back to find the battery drained

Similar:

uncharged (of a particle or body or system; having no charge)

Sense 20

dead [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Lacking animation or excitement or activity

Synonyms:

lifeless; dead

Context examples:

the party being dead we left early / it was a lifeless party until she arrived

Similar:

unanimated (not animated or enlivened; dull)

Sense 21

dead [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Devoid of activity

Context example:

this is a dead town; nothing ever happens here

Similar:

inactive (lacking activity; lying idle or unused)

• DEAD (adverb)

Sense 1

dead [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Quickly and without warning

Synonyms:

abruptly; dead; short; suddenly

Context example:

he stopped suddenly

Sense 2

dead [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers

Synonyms:

utterly; perfectly; absolutely; dead

Context examples:

an absolutely magnificent painting / a perfectly idiotic idea / you're perfectly right / utterly miserable / you can be dead sure of my innocence / was dead tired / dead right