zombie

[ zom-bee ]

noun

1. (in Vodou)
   1. a mute and will-less body, robbed of its soul and given the semblance of life by a supernatural force, usually for manual labor or some evil purpose.
   2. the supernatural force itself.
2. (in popular culture) an undead creature with a reanimated human body, typically depicted in science fiction or horror stories as contagious to the living by bite and vulnerable only to serious head trauma:

   In the movie, survivors of the apocalypse try to build a barricade to keep the zombies out.

3. Informal.
   1. a person whose behavior or responses are wooden, listless, or seemingly rote; automaton.
   2. an eccentric or peculiar person.
4. a snake god worshiped in West Indian and Brazilian religious practices of African origin.
5. a tall drink made typically with several kinds of rum, citrus juice, and often apricot liqueur.
6. Canadian Slang. an army conscript assigned to home defense during World War II.

adjective

1. of or relating to something that was declared concluded, finished, or dead, but surprisingly continues to linger, or comes back in a different version: resuscitating zombie corporations through debt restructuring;

   zombie legislation that was defeated last session;

   resuscitating zombie corporations through debt restructuring;

   a zombie ex who texts you out of the blue looking for a hookup.

zombie

/ ˈzɒmbɪ /

noun

1. a person who is or appears to be lifeless, apathetic, or totally lacking in independent judgment; automaton
2. a supernatural spirit that reanimates a dead body
3. a corpse brought to life in this manner
4. the snake god of voodoo cults in the West Indies, esp Haiti, and in scattered areas of the southern US
5. the python god revered in parts of West Africa
6. a piece of computer code that instructs an infected computer to send a virus on to other computer systems

Derived Forms

• ˈzombiism, noun

Other Words From

• zom·bi·ism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of zombie¹

First recorded in 1810–20; from Louisiana French, Haitian Creole zonbi, from a Bantu language, e.g., Kongo nzambi “god,” zumbi “fetish,” or Kimbundu nzambi “god”

Word History and Origins

Origin of zombie¹

from Kongo zumbi good-luck fetish

Example Sentences

Derrickson was into what she calls “weirdo culture” before they started the business, mostly cosplay and zombies.

From Washington Post

If even a few of these zombie-like microbes survive across geological time it has deep implications for life in the solar system and beyond.

From Nautilus

Manipulation on major social channels happens frequently when people create zombie accounts to flood content with fake “likes” and “views” to affect the viewed content.

From TechCrunch

They suspect zombie-worm larvae drift in the water until they find some whale bones.

From Science News For Students

So-called “zombie fires” may be burning in Arctic peatlands, where approximately half of this summer’s fires have occurred.

From Vox

But the title of Best Death definitely belongs to Bob Stookey, who got bitten by a zombie then captured by cannibals.

From The Daily Beast

Their last hope for saving humanity, Eugene, turned out to be a liar with no idea how to stop the zombie virus.

From The Daily Beast

In the respectable guise of religious liberty, the zombie-like Culture War soldiers on.

From The Daily Beast

Ad after ad I saw described Hagan as a “rubber stamp,” almost zombie-esque follower of Obama.

From The Daily Beast

We did a bit on the show where we talked about Republican zombie-lies—that when Republicans tell lies, they just never die.

From The Daily Beast

It was soon plain that she was a zombie with about ten words in her vocabulary.

From Project Gutenberg

Thousands of people suddenly began marching zombie-like into the woods where they vanished into a black pit.

From Project Gutenberg

My character was a swabbie on the pirate ship Zombie Charger, and he'd wound down while I'd been offline.

From Project Gutenberg

I logged back in and there I was, still on the deck of the Zombie Charger, waiting for someone to wind me up.

From Project Gutenberg

It was as though the blow had not been struck; as though this were some kind of a moving, breathing zombie.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• demon
• devil
• phantom
• shadow
• soul
• specter
• vampire
• vision