unalive
Americanverb (used with object)
adjective
-
Slang. dead.
Our unalive goldfish was floating at the top of the fishbowl.
That joke killed me—I am unalive!
-
(of an inanimate object) lifeless and lacking even the facsimile of life.
the unalive occupants of the wax museum.
-
(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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"It's so cold it feels like the city is actively trying to unalive my motivation… I'm not scared, I promise."
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
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 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
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
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
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.
