deathlike
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of deathlike
1540–50; death + -like; compare Old English dēathlīc deathly
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 the biggest draw might be the deathlike stench when they open—and people are willing to wait hours to catch a whiff.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
If you know anything about Burton’s movies, you know that they tend to feature characters who embody all the qualities of a sickly Victorian-era child: waifish, sunken doe-eye and gaunt faces with a deathlike pallor.
From Salon ● Sep. 15, 2024
Inside the field hospital at Azovstal, the wounded soldiers looked pale and deathlike.
From New York Times ● Jul. 24, 2022
Dr. Janov had practiced psychology for nearly two decades when, during a session, a young patient emitted what Dr. Janov described as a “piercing, deathlike scream.”
From Washington Post ● Oct. 4, 2017
I knew only that I would grow heavy with the burden, and one day deathlike pains would grip me until the creature sprang from my loins and cried to be cared for.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
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.
