undead

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ʌnˈdɛd/ UK /ʌnˈdɛd/ See IPA manual

adj noun

Meanings

1

adj
dead yet still animate, as a zombie or vampire in fiction

The novel's undead villain rose each night to feed.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · dead yet still animate, as... zombierevenantreanimatedghoul

Opposites

living alive mortal

Word family

Related forms dead death die

Etymology

From un- ('not') + dead. A modern coinage (popularized by Gothic fiction such as Bram Stoker's Dracula) for beings neither truly alive nor truly dead; dead is from Old English dēad, from Proto-Germanic *daudaz.

un- Old English dēad Old English *daudaz Proto-Germanic

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Topics

Describing Qualities

# undead

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj, noun
**IPA (US):** ʌnˈdɛd
**IPA (UK):** ʌnˈdɛd

## Meanings
1. dead yet still animate, as a zombie or vampire in fiction

## Examples
- The novel's undead villain rose each night to feed.

## Synonyms
- zombie
- revenant
- reanimated
- ghoul

## Antonyms
- living
- alive
- mortal

## Related Forms
- dead
- death
- die

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: un-
- Root: dēad
- Root: *daudaz

## Etymology
From un- ('not') + dead. A modern coinage (popularized by Gothic fiction such as Bram Stoker's Dracula) for beings neither truly alive nor truly dead; dead is from Old English dēad, from Proto-Germanic *daudaz.

## AI Etymology
Undead is from un- ('not') + dead. A modern coinage (popularized by Gothic fiction such as Bram Stoker's Dracula) for beings neither truly alive nor truly dead; dead is from Old English dēad, from Proto-Germanic *daudaz. Important recorded forms include un- (Old English), dēad (Old English), and *daudaz (Proto-Germanic). Morphologically, the un- element marks negation, reversal, removal, or deprivation, while the base supplies the action, quality, or state being denied or undone. The modern sense continues the older lexical line without requiring a separate origin. In current use it covers dead yet still animate, as a zombie or vampire in fiction. The wider family includes related words such as dead, death, and die.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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undead

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