perish
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to die or be destroyed through violence, privation, etc..
to perish in an earthquake.
- Synonyms:
- expire
-
to pass away or disappear.
an age of elegance that has forever perished.
- Antonyms:
- appear
-
to suffer destruction or ruin.
His valuable paintings perished in the fire.
-
to suffer spiritual death.
Save us, lest we perish.
idioms
verb
-
to be destroyed or die, esp in an untimely way
-
(tr sometimes followed by with or from) to cause to suffer
we were perished with cold
-
to rot
leather perishes if exposed to bad weather
-
may it never be or happen thus
noun
Related Words
See die 1.
Other Word Forms
- perishless adjective
- perishment noun
- unperished adjective
Etymology
Origin of perish
1200–50; Middle English perissen < Old French periss-, long stem of perir < Latin perīre to perish, literally, go through, spend fully, equivalent to per- per- + īre to go
Explanation
To perish means to die. Your brother's goldfish might perish if he forgets to feed it — so be sure to remind him that Goldie needs her dinner! Perish comes from a Latin verb that means "to pass away." Many passengers on the Titanic perished after the ship hit an iceberg. Perish can also be used figuratively, as when an op-ed argues that the idea of the American Dream perished in the 21st century. People also sometimes use this word simply to be dramatic. You might, for instance, tell your mom that you'll perish if you aren't allowed to spend the weekend at your best friend's house.
Vocabulary lists containing perish
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" (1863)
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Words for the High School Graduate
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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.
Composer Shankar Mahadevan said "every Indian is heartbroken today", adding that her music would "never perish as long as humanity exists" and that she would "live forever, with her incredible voice echoing across the world".
From BBC • Apr. 12, 2026
Evolution occurs through random variation and natural selection: The strong survive and reproduce; the weak perish.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 9, 2026
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. put it simply in 1961, another era when it seemed America would split into pieces: “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 27, 2025
Instead, there are scores of planets and moons where humans, if exposed to local conditions without life support, would perish immediately.
From Slate • Dec. 9, 2025
Since the vast disturbances in the Arctic, the ice had begun to disappear, and Iorek knew that he had to find an icebound fastness for his kin, or they would perish.
From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman
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.
