exanimate
Americanadjective
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inanimate or lifeless.
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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.
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
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)
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
Silence on the bier, While I call God—call God!—so let thy mouth Be heir to those who are now exanimate.
From Sonnets from the Portuguese by Browning, Elizabeth Barrett
Silence on the bier, While I call God—call God!—So let thy mouth Be heir to those who are now exanimate.
From The Poetical Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Volume IV by Browning, Elizabeth Barrett
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.