exanimate
Americanadjective
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inanimate or lifeless.
-
spiritless; disheartened.
adjective
Other Word Forms
- exanimation noun
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.
All along the wan stretch of Cheyne Walk the thin trees stood exanimate, with not a breath of wind to stir the snow that pied their soot-blackened branches.
From A Christmas Garland by Beerbohm, Max, Sir
The frozen lash was soon severed and the two exanimate bodies lifted in eager hands.
From The Promise A Tale of the Great Northwest by Hendryx, James B. (James Beardsley)
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
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
At her side the girl gazed curiously at the exanimate form.
From The Promise A Tale of the Great Northwest by Hendryx, James B. (James Beardsley)
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.
