moribund

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

|Updated on: 6 Aug 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

One problem is that the Geneva process, begun in 2012, when there appeared a very real possibility that Assad would lose the war against rebels backed by the United States and regional partners, has been largely moribund.

— Washington Post, "Strike on Assad for use of chemical agents unlikely to advance wider U.S. goals in Syria," 10 Apr. 2018
For big productivity gains, the government will need to overhaul moribund industries.

— The Economist, "Is North Korea the next Vietnam? Don’t count on it," 12 July 2018
He was reactivated Thursday to start against the Royals, a moribund bunch who await the Astros' arrival in two days.

— chandler rome, Houston Chronicle, "Evan almighty: Gattis goes on another rampage as Astros wallop Athletics," 14 June 2018
Supreme’s drop system, which is a way for the brand to slow burn hype over the course of the entire season, is now seen as an antidote to a moribund retail industry.

— cam wolf, GQ, "Supreme Just Won the Biggest Award in Menswear," 5 June 2018
But it can be seen as an object lesson in what effective Democratic politics can look like, as a contrast to the moribund state of the party’s status quo in Washington.

— frank rich, Daily Intelligencer, "Rot on the Right, Green Shoots on the Left," 28 June 2018
A decade ago, Jealous, at 35, became the youngest person to lead the national NAACP, reviving a moribund organization and reestablishing it as a national political force.

— erin cox, baltimoresun.com, "Jealous declares victory in Maryland Democratic primary race for governor," 27 June 2018
The fan group was virtually moribund when Heimir Hallgrimsson, now Iceland’s head coach and then the assistant, started his famous practice of meeting fans at a local pub to unveil his strategy before home games.

— sarah lyall, New York Times, "The ‘Ruligans’ in Russia, Courtesy of Iceland," 22 June 2018
The moribund Arab League called for an emergency meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza.

— ben wedeman, CNN, "The dream of 'peace in our time' in the Middle East died on Monday," 14 May 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.