undead

[uhn-ded]

adjective

1. no longer alive but animated by a supernatural force, as a vampire or zombie.

noun

(used with a plural verb)

1. undead beings collectively.

undead

/ ʌnˈdɛd /

adjective

1. 1. (of a fictional being, such as a vampire) technically dead but reanimated

   2. ( as collective noun; preceded by the )

      the undead

Word History and Origins

Origin of undead¹

First recorded in 1895–1900; un- ¹ ( def. ) + dead ( def. )

Example Sentences

In director Guillermo del Toro’s take on the classic fable Frankenstein, Elordi glows an undead white as the monster, his body a patchwork of human parts sawed off of Crimean War corpses.

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One by one, they are turned into vampires by Kurt Barlow, ostensibly a furniture salesman but in fact a Pied Piper of the undead.

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Mr. King’s most harrowing passages mesh the living and the undead in ’Salem’s Lot.

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The newly undead Mississippi folks dance along, but it’s different from Sammie’s juke joint rapture — unnatural and jerky, even as they keep the rhythm.

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Though Spike gets a few solid practice kills in on the slow-moving undead, his nerves get the best of him when it comes to the Alphas, wasting arrows that do little more than maim.

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