unalive

American  

[uhn-uh-lahyv] / ˌʌn əˈlaɪv /

verb (used with object)

Slang.

1. to kill (oneself or another person): The point of the game is to unalive all enemies before losing your last life token.

   Is it a cry for help when people on social media talk about unaliving themselves?

   The point of the game is to unalive all enemies before losing your last life token.

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adjective

1. Slang. dead.

   Our unalive goldfish was floating at the top of the fishbowl.

   That joke killed me—I am unalive!

2. (of an inanimate object) lifeless and lacking even the facsimile of life.

   the unalive occupants of the wax museum.

3. (of a living being) unaware of someone or something, or generally isolated, numb, or unresponsive.

   We were unalive to the possibilities of fusion cuisine before our travels.

   She was unalive in the face of her own children’s suffering.

Etymology

Origin of unalive

First recorded in 1820–30 unalive for defs. 2, 3, 4, and in 2015–20 unalive for def. 1; un- ² ( def. ) + alive ( def. ); the recent senses “to kill; die by suicide” are euphemisms to avoid censorship on the internet

Example Sentences

The intent was for them to appear unalive while still getting across a sense of the person they used to be.

From Los Angeles Times • May 30, 2024

But there are all kinds of reasons why one might not distinguish, in one's loving relationships, between alive and unalive things.

From Salon • Jun. 24, 2023

But because, in fact, it had never occurred to me that one might not engage deeply and absorbedly with unalive things.

From Salon • Jun. 24, 2023

The neurologist Dr Oliver Sacks, who's involved with the project, describes Henry as "almost unalive", but as soon as the music starts there's a complete transformation.

From The Guardian • Jun. 28, 2012

Another hint that Ebola is extremely ancient is the way in which it can seem neither quite alive nor quite unalive.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston

Related Words

• do away with
• kill
• murder