moribund
[mawr-uh-buhnd, mor-]
- in a dying state; near death.
- on the verge of extinction or termination.
- not progressing or advancing; stagnant: a moribund political party.
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Origin of moribund
1715–25; < Latin moribundus dying, equivalent to mori- (stem of morī to die) + -bundus adj. suffix
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for moribund
Contemporary Examples
Then Heal STL was burned down Monday like a moribund body for cremation.
Leaving the moribund Eddie, Frank crosses paths with a black deliveryman, and they talk about hurricane survivors.
When Murdoch bought the paper in 1969 it was a moribund broadsheet losing a ton of money, with a circulation of 800,000.
Murdoch on the Rocks: How a Lone Reporter Revealed the Mogul's Tabloid Terror MachineClive Irving
August 25, 2014
Now French investigators, with the help of the FBI, want to know if it is more than a moribund coincidence.
Alps Murder Twist: Iraqi Wife Had Secret American Ex-Husband Who Died on the Same DayBarbie Latza Nadeau
July 9, 2014
Is Palestinian culture to blame for the moribund state of the Palestinian economy?
Historical Examples
More than the population of the moribund city, at least as Harkaman remembered it.
Space VikingHenry Beam Piper
"You can tell my country, sir, that I died willingly," panted the moribund.
The Dop DoctorClotilde Inez Mary Graves
I saw for myself the return of life to a body that was moribund.
The Blue GermMartin Swayne
Together the two works are an epitome of modern and moribund Iran.
The Adventures of Hajji Baba of IspahanJames Morier
Surely it was time to infuse new blood into the veins of the moribund art.
The ReefEdith Wharton
moribund
- near death
- stagnant; without force or vitality
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Word Origin
C18: from Latin, from morī to die
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for moribund
adj.
1721, "about to die," from Middle French moribund (16c.), from Latin moribundus "dying, at the point of death," from mori "to die" (see mortal (adj.)). Figurative sense of "near an end" is from 1837. Related: Moribundity.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
moribund
(môr′ə-bŭnd′)- At the point of death; dying.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.