moribund

adjective mor·i·bund \ ˈmȯr-ə-(ˌ)bənd , ˈmär- \

|Updated on: 11 Jun 2018

Examples: moribund in a Sentence

Editor's Note: moribund Gets Less Literal

Definition of moribund

1 : being in the state of dying : approaching death

in the moribund patient deepening stupor and coma are the usual preludes to death
—Norman Cameron

2 : being in a state of inactivity or obsolescence

a moribund virus

a moribund volcano

prune the moribund files from your disk forever
—D. S. Janal

—

moribundity

play \ˌmȯr-ə-ˈbən-də-tē, ˌmär-\ noun

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Examples of moribund in a Sentence

an actor who is trying to revive his moribund career
The peace talks are moribund.

Recent Examples of moribund from the Web

On Thursday, consultants at a public forum presented proposed redevelopment plans that would enliven the moribund commercial corridor with a mix of higher density housing, retail and public spaces.

— jesse leavenworth, Courant Community, "East Hartford Looking At Ways To Revitalize Silver Lane," 8 June 2018
Universal Pictures is having none of that, of course, not after 2015’s Jurassic World made a gazillion dollars, re-invigorating a moribund series.

— richard lawson, HWD, "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom," 5 June 2018
Marisnick's return to the Major League club has mirrored the moribund stretch that forced him from it in the first place.

— chandler rome, Houston Chronicle, "Astros' Jake Marisnick gets start in center field against Yankees," 30 May 2018
The fresh-faced Detroit band has reinvigorated a moribund hard rock scene.

— bill brownlee, kansascity, "Meet the Middlers: Greta Van Fleet channels Led Zepplin really, really well | The Kansas City Star," 24 May 2018
But Dean warns that these groups are far from moribund.

— paul cruickshank and tim lister, CNN, "A former spy inside al Qaeda speaks," 23 May 2018
He is credited by many with reviving a moribund organization.

— michael dresser, baltimoresun.com, "Democrat Ben Jealous pitches health care for all, free college tuition in bid for Maryland governor," 18 May 2018
All Thibodeau did was resurrect a moribund franchise that hadn’t been relevant since the days of Michael Jordan, leading the team to an NBA-best 62 wins in his rookie season and going all the way to the conference finals.

— chris chase, For The Win, "Dwane Casey and the 10 other best coaches to be fired," 11 May 2018
All of those factors played a role here and will privilege a moribund industry at the expense of one that is growing.

— david segal, New York Times, "In Brexit Vote, Town’s Nostalgia for Seafaring Past Muddied Its Future," 23 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'moribund.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

moribund Gets Less Literal

Moribund is still sometimes used in its original literal sense of "approaching death", but it's much more often used to describe things. When the economy goes bad, we hear about moribund mills and factories and towns; the economy itself may even be called moribund. Critics may speak of the moribund state of poetry, or lament the moribund record or newspaper industry.