motionless
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- motionlessly adverb
- motionlessness noun
Etymology
Origin of motionless
Explanation
If you're motionless, you're completely still, not moving a muscle. Your barber might instruct you to remain motionless while he trims the hair around your ears. Anything that's motionless doesn't move — a statue is motionless, and your bike is motionless lying in the driveway until you climb on it and start pedaling. Photographs are motionless, while video records movement. Your new puppy might be a constantly wiggling, jumping ball of motion until she becomes exhausted and falls sound asleep, motionless. Motion, or movement, comes from a Latin root, motionem, "a movement" or "an emotion."
Vocabulary lists containing motionless
Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 4
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"The Woman in the Snow" and "Rosa Parks"
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English Language Development Texts, Unit 2
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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.
When he zoomed in with his camera, he realized the motionless ants were covered with tiny cone ants.
From Science Daily • Apr. 14, 2026
Chinese veteran Liu Jiayu, the silver medallist at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, landed heavily towards the end of her second run, lying motionless on her back in the snow.
From Barron's • Feb. 11, 2026
For the giant is motionless, and its chest is pierced with an ominous spear that rises 3,000 feet into the sky.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026
The cub was found sitting, motionless, in the middle of Hillcrest Parkway near Olympic Street in Castaic just before 1 a.m.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 21, 2026
“Are you kidding?” answered Brooklyn, who stood virtually motionless, mesmerized by the machine.
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
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.
