Antonyms for dead


Grammar : Adj, adv
Spell : ded
Phonetic Transcription : dɛd


Definition of dead

Origin :
  • Old English dead "dead," also "torpid, dull;" of water, "still, standing," from Proto-Germanic *dauthaz (cf. Old Saxon dod, Danish død, Swedish död, Old Frisian dad, Middle Dutch doot, Dutch dood, Old High German tot, German tot, Old Norse dauðr, Gothic dauþs "dead"), from PIE *dhou-toz-, from root *dheu- (3) "to die" (see die (v.)).
  • Meaning "insensible" is first attested early 13c. Of places, "inactive, dull," from 1580s. Used from 16c. in adjectival sense of "utter, absolute, quite" (cf. dead drunk first attested 1590s; dead heat, 1796). As an adverb, from late 14c. Dead on is 1889, from marksmanship. Dead duck is from 1844. Dead letter is from 1703, used of laws lacking force as well as uncollected mail. Phrase in the dead of the night first recorded 1540s.
  • For but ich haue bote of mi bale I am ded as dorenail (c.1350).
  • Dead soldier "emptied liquor bottle" is from 1913 in that form; the image is older:
  • Dead man, or Dead marine, a colloquialism for an empty bottle, possibly in humorous recognition of the fact that the spirits have departed. But the French also have the same phrase, un corps mort, a dead body, for which there can be no punning pretext. [Walsh, 1892]
  • adj no longer alive
  • adj indifferent, cold
  • adj not working
  • adj complete, total
  • adv completely, totally
Example sentences :
  • Afterward, I looked downward, and saw my dead body lying on a couch.
  • Extract from : « Philothea » by Lydia Maria Child
  • The face of the maid that served him had been no heaven for the souls of dead flowers.
  • Extract from : « The Spenders » by Harry Leon Wilson
  • Was his father still alive, or was this letter a communication from the dead?
  • Extract from : « Brave and Bold » by Horatio Alger
  • His eyes were closed, his face a dead, chalky white, and his body hung limp.
  • Extract from : « The Spenders » by Harry Leon Wilson
  • It seemed like one risen from the dead, for he supposed him lying at the bottom of the sea.
  • Extract from : « Brave and Bold » by Horatio Alger
  • Had the dead come back from the bottom of the sea to expose him?
  • Extract from : « Brave and Bold » by Horatio Alger
  • What was to become of the slaves on this plantation now that the master was dead?
  • Extract from : « Harriet, The Moses of Her People » by Sarah H. Bradford
  • Whacked his head on a rock, and young Lanning thought his man was dead.
  • Extract from : « Way of the Lawless » by Max Brand
  • It's sad—sad to go through so much pain and then to have a dead baby.
  • Extract from : « Life and Death of Harriett Frean » by May Sinclair
  • The man was stretched on the pavement brutishly drunk and dead to the world.
  • Extract from : « Ballads of a Bohemian » by Robert W. Service

Synonyms for dead

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019