comatose
Americanadjective
-
affected with or characterized by coma.
-
lacking alertness or energy; torpid.
comatose from lack of sleep.
adjective
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in a state of coma
-
torpid; lethargic
Other Word Forms
- comatosely adverb
- comatoseness noun
- comatosity noun
Etymology
Origin of comatose
Explanation
Being comatose is being in a coma, unconscious and unable to communicate, often for long periods of time. A bad illness or unexpected accident or injury — especially to the head — can make you comatose and trapped inside a body that isn't working. Comatose comes from the Greek kōma, "deep sleep." When you're in a deep sleep, your body is still and you don't respond to things around you. Being comatose means being in that sleepy, unresponsive state and not being able to get out of it. A much less serious use of this adjective is as a description for getting really tired while doing or watching something, like when you feel comatose after a chemistry lecture — assuming chemistry's not your thing.
Vocabulary lists containing comatose
Game Changer
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Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie
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Matilda
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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.
He has remained in a comatose state since then.
From BBC • Mar. 11, 2026
The good collides with the bad at such an intense pace that the resulting impact leaves the film comatose.
From Salon • Jan. 25, 2026
The musician also found late-in-life notoriety through his family’s popular MTV reality series, “The Osbournes,” where he played himself — the mumbling, nearly comatose patriarch of a fully dysfunctional family.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 22, 2025
Recovery comes in stages: from a comatose state to disorientation, then aggressive reawakening—when the animals are most dangerous due to lingering neurological effects.
From BBC • Apr. 8, 2025
She glared at Bruce Bogtrotter who was sitting on his chair like some huge overstuffed grub, replete, comatose, unable to move or to speak.
From "Matilda" by Roald Dahl
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
