stillborn
Americanadjective
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dead when born.
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ineffectual from the beginning; abortive; fruitless.
a stillborn plan of escape.
adjective
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(of a fetus) dead at birth
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(of an idea, plan, etc) fruitless; abortive; unsuccessful
noun
Etymology
Origin of stillborn
Vocabulary lists containing stillborn
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.
A woman said she can no longer be buried with the ashes of her stillborn daughter because of a change in crematorium rules.
From BBC • Mar. 13, 2026
Two horses were dead when he arrived, including a foal that appeared stillborn or miscarried.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 22, 2026
The opening chorus of Act 2, in which the Puritans grieve over Elvira’s madness, features a woman giving birth to a stillborn baby in full view of the community.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 2, 2026
Ryan and Amy Jackson founded the Lily Mae Foundation in memory of their daughter who was stillborn at 37 weeks in 2010.
From BBC • Dec. 4, 2025
Perhaps science was stillborn in Indian, Mayan and Aztec civilizations for the same reason it declined in Ionia, the pervasiveness of the slave economy.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
