Definition of brain-deadnext
as in dumb
not having or showing an ability to absorb ideas readily it seems like she's always doing some brain-dead thing or another

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of brain-dead He was declared brain-dead that day and taken off life support two days later. City News Service, Daily News, 30 Mar. 2026 The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner classified Robinson as brain-dead on March 2, issuing what is known as a demographic report, a document the office routinely issues following someone's death. David Clarey, jsonline.com, 5 Mar. 2026 The vast majority of organ donations once came from people who were brain-dead. ABC News, 26 Feb. 2026 He was reportedly revived at a hospital but was declared brain-dead and removed from life support. Bonny Chu, FOXNews.com, 10 Dec. 2025 See All Example Sentences for brain-dead
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brain-dead
Adjective
  • Perhaps in writing it, Salinger was trying to negotiate whether his remarkable survival through some of the war’s worst gauntlets could be chalked up to dumb luck, or divine intervention.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 Aug. 2026
  • Approaching the plant, there are no telltale dumb-bell silhouettes on the horizon signaling its presence.
    Ramy Inocencio, CBS News, 5 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • The case that American leadership in this technology carries a genuine security dimension has never looked stupid to me.
    Jason Snyder, Forbes.com, 8 Aug. 2026
  • The women are in stupid costumes (Heather Gay is dressed as a leprechaun at one point) and yelling at one another for yet-unknown reasons.
    Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 6 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • Researchers used the device to process time-series data, including signals that contained both rapid and slow changes.
    Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 8 Aug. 2026
  • However, there is another, slower and more insidious evacuation taking place, and that is the steady migration from rural areas all around the world to burgeoning cities, which now host more than half the world’s population.
    John Vaillant, Time, 8 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • The task seemed like a simple one for a digital agent, as the booking form was online.
    Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 11 Aug. 2026
  • Mungiu refuses to supply easy answers or simple paths to identification in this compelling provocation, which poses unresolvable questions to viewers about our biases and presumptions.
    Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 11 Aug. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Brain-dead.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brain-dead. Accessed 12 Aug. 2026.

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