motionless
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
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.
The ending is slapdash and rushed, somehow missing an emotional target sitting motionless one foot away.
From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2026
The researchers measured how often the rats entered each type of arm, how much time they spent there, and how long they remained motionless, a response known as freezing time.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 17, 2026
“I stand motionless because I believe it gives the team emotional stamina,” he said in a phone interview last week.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
Another World Cup superfan whose claim to fame is being motionless for the entire match.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 15, 2026
Her face was slack with exhaustion and she stood motionless in front of her locker, the door open.
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
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.
