comatose

adjective

co·​ma·​tose ˈkō-mə-ˌtōs  ˈkä- 

1

: of, resembling, or affected with coma

The patient lay comatose, sustained by respirators.

2

: characterized by lethargic inertness : torpid

a comatose economy

Broadway was theatrically comatose that summer.

Synonyms

• dead
• sleepy
• slow

Examples of comatose in a Sentence

She lay in a comatose state.

the city's downtown has been comatose for years

Recent Examples on the Web

Set in wintry Winnipeg, the Canada-Chile co-production follows a Korean widow (Kim Ho-jung), who flies in from Seoul after her adult daughter is comatose after a fall. —Jennie Punter, Variety, 6 Sep. 2024

The standard definition of a comatose patient is someone who is unconscious, is unable to be awakened, and has no signs of awareness or the ability to interact with the environment. —Jan Claassen, Scientific American, 1 Nov. 2022

Now, a study out this week in The New England Journal of Medicine—the largest of its kind—suggests one in four supposedly comatose patients may actually have at least some awareness. —Christie Wilcox, science.org, 16 Aug. 2024

Doting on them are two men: nurse Benigno (Javier Cámara), who passes days massaging lotion into the flesh of his comatose ballerina beloved, Alicia (Leonor Watling), and Marco (Darío Grandinetti), the devastated beau of gored bullfighter Lydia (Rosario Flores). —Indiewire Staff, IndieWire, 12 Aug. 2024

Word History

Etymology

French comateux, from Greek kōmat-, kōma — see coma entry 1

First Known Use

1755, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Medical Definition

comatose

adjective

co·​ma·​tose ˈkō-mə-ˌtōs  ˈkäm-ə- 

: of, resembling, or affected with coma

a comatose patient

a comatose condition