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Synonyms

exanimate

American  
[eg-zan-uh-mit, -meyt, ek-san-] / ɛgˈzæn ə mɪt, -ˌmeɪt, ɛkˈsæn- /

adjective

  1. inanimate or lifeless.

  2. spiritless; disheartened.


exanimate British  
/ ɪɡˈzænɪmɪt, -ˌmeɪt /

adjective

  1. rare lacking life; inanimate

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of exanimate

1525–35; < Latin exanimātus (past participle of exanimāre to deprive of life), equivalent to ex- ex- 1 + anim ( a ) life, spirit + -ātus -ate 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

But I, exanimate of quick Poesy,— O then, no more but even a soulless corse!

From New Poems by Thompson, Francis

In the afternoon the mother and her eldest and youngest, supine and exanimate in the drawing-room, were surprised into expectancy by the sound of the front-door bell before three o'clock.

From Leonora by Bennett, Arnold

It looked exanimate enough, with its idle wheel looming above the black stream dashed with yellow-white spume, and its cluster of sheds sagging under their white load.

From Ethan Frome by Wharton, Edith

When Laura plays the piano, her adorer stands there, one moment an exanimate statue, the next a disembodied spirit,—while the listening zephyrs murmur more softly in reverence.

From The Life and Works of Friedrich Schiller by Thomas, Calvin

A city agen, But peopled by pale mechanical men, With workhouses filled, and prisons, and marts, And faces that spake exanimate hearts.

From The Irish Penny Journal, No. 1, Vol. 1, July 4, 1840 by Various

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