catatonic

adjective

cat·​a·​ton·​ic ˌka-tə-ˈtä-nik 

1

: of, relating to, marked by, or affected with catatonia

catatonic schizophrenia

2

: characterized by a marked lack of movement, activity, or expression

tourists who were almost catatonic at finding themselves in their hero's presence

—Neil Hickey

catatonic noun

catatonically

ˌka-tə-ˈtä-ni-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

Synonyms

• blank
• motionless
• vacant

Examples of catatonic in a Sentence

a catatonic stare was all that the neglected resident of the nursing home seemed capable of

Recent Examples on the Web

Other high-dollar attendees who posed for photographs with Obama and Biden described Biden as slow and almost catatonic. —Jake Tapper, New Yorker, 13 May 2025

Do not let despair or doom and gloom put you into a catatonic funk. —Lance Eliot, Forbes, 17 Jan. 2025

Popular on Variety But a series of mysterious occurrences here and elsewhere in New England — the disappearances of children who later turn up, physically intact yet near-catatonic — grows more immediate once Ben gets pulled under during a night swim. —Dennis Harvey, Variety, 3 Oct. 2024

Winter Passing focuses on Reese (Zooey Deschanel), a struggling New York actress who heads to Michigan to reunite with her distant, brilliant, nearly catatonic author father (Ed Harris). —Tim Grierson, Vulture, 4 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

see catatonia

First Known Use

1904, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for catatonic

• anharmonic
• anionic
• avionic
• cationic
• chorionic
• cosmogonic
• diachronic
• diatonic
• electronic
• embryonic
• excitonic
• fermionic

Medical Definition

catatonic

1 of 2 adjective

cata·​ton·​ic ˌkat-ə-ˈtän-ik 

: of, relating to, marked by, or affected with catatonia

catatonic schizophrenia

catatonic rigidity

catatonic patients

catatonically

-i-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

catatonic

2 of 2 noun

: a catatonic individual