dead

A2 Topic:Describing Qualities

Also spelled deead

US /dɛd/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like dad /ɛ/ vs /æ/

Freq #248

Meanings

1

adj
No longer alive.

The flowers in the garden were all dead by winter.
2

adj
(of a machine or device) no longer working.

My phone battery is completely dead.
3

adj
Very quiet, with no activity.

The town is dead on Sunday evenings.
4

adj
No longer used or relevant.

Latin is often called a dead language.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

asleep blessed cadaverousclay-colddeceased decomposed defunct departed expired extinct fey gone

Opposites

alive live living

Word family

Forms deaderdeadestdeadnessdeads

Derived forms brain-deadbraindeadcard-deaddead-alivedead-and-alivedead-beatdead-blowdead-borndead-bugdead-centerdead-centereddead-clothes

Related forms cemetery deaden deadliness deadlydeadnessdeath die kill undead

Appears in

Phrases (3)

See all

dead body
a corpse

Adjective + noun
dead cell
A cell that is no longer alive or functional

Adjective + noun
dead end
a road or passage that is closed at one end; a situation with no further progress possible

Adjective + noun

Idioms (4)

See all

dead and buried
completely abandoned, with no realistic chance that a plan or idea will return
dead to the world
sleeping so deeply that you are completely unaware of your surroundings
over my dead body
a forceful refusal meaning that something will never be allowed
default alive
Matching variant: default alive or default dead

describing a startup whose normal growth will make it profitable without needing more funding

Proverbs (18)

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Simplified etymology

Dead is an Old English word related to Dutch dood, German Tod “death,” and English death. These words share an ancient ancestor also connected with die.

Etymology

From Middle English ded, deed, from Old English dēad, from Proto-West Germanic *daud, from Proto-Germanic *daudaz. Compare West Frisian dead, dea, Dutch dood, German tot, Danish, Norwegian død, Norwegian Nynorsk daud.

ded Middle English dēad Old English *daud Proto-West Germanic *daudaz Proto-Germanic *dʰew- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# dead

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /dɛd/
**Frequency rank:** 248

## Meanings
1. No longer alive.
2. (of a machine or device) no longer working.
3. Very quiet, with no activity.
4. No longer used or relevant.

## Examples
- The flowers in the garden were all dead by winter.
- My phone battery is completely dead.
- The town is dead on Sunday evenings.
- Latin is often called a dead language.

## Synonyms
- asleep
- blessed
- cadaverous
- clay-cold
- deceased
- decomposed
- defunct
- departed
- expired
- extinct
- fey
- gone

## Antonyms
- alive
- live
- living

## Derived Forms
- brain-dead
- braindead
- card-dead
- dead-alive
- dead-and-alive
- dead-beat
- dead-blow
- dead-born
- dead-bug
- dead-center
- dead-centered
- dead-clothes

## Related Forms
- cemetery
- deaden
- deadliness
- deadly
- deadness
- death
- die
- kill
- undead

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: ded
- Root: dēad
- Root: *daud
- Root: *daudaz
- Root: *dʰew-

## Etymology
From Middle English ded, deed, from Old English dēad, from Proto-West Germanic *daud, from Proto-Germanic *daudaz. Compare West Frisian dead, dea, Dutch dood, German tot, Danish, Norwegian død, Norwegian Nynorsk daud.

## AI Etymology
dead comes from Middle English ded, deed, from Old English dēad, from Proto-West Germanic *daud, from Proto-Germanic *daudaz. Compare West Frisian dead, dea, Dutch dood, German tot, Danish, Norwegian død, Norwegian Nynorsk daud. The historical chain includes Middle English ded, Old English dēad, Proto-West Germanic *daud, Proto-Germanic *daudaz, Proto-Indo-European *dʰew-. Current senses include No longer alive and (of a machine or device) no longer working. English relatives and later formations include brain-dead, braindead, card-dead, cemetery, deaden.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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dead

Meanings

Thesaurus

Appears in

Phrases (3)

Idioms (4)

Proverbs (18)

Simplified etymology

Etymology

Topics

External links

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