undead

[uhn-ded]

adjective

1. no longer alive but animated by a supernatural force, as a vampire or zombie.

noun

(used with a plural verb)

1. undead beings collectively.

undead

/ ʌnˈdɛd /

adjective

1. 1. (of a fictional being, such as a vampire) technically dead but reanimated

   2. ( as collective noun; preceded by the )

      the undead

Word History and Origins

Origin of undead¹

First recorded in 1895–1900; un- ¹ ( def. ) + dead ( def. )

Example Sentences

His flights of fancy— malevolent music, undead scholars, imaginary brothers, a cult led by a guru with 93 Ferraris in an “experimental township” called the Moon — are more controlled and add subtle strokes of color.

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The Rice tactic is to make the undead sympathetic.

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Mr. Blair, an emeritus professor of medieval history and archaeology at the University of Oxford, has been thinking about the undead since his childhood.

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Fear of the undead is almost a human universal.

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The undead who wrestled with Vikings on Iceland had counterparts throughout Northern Europe.

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