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
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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
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The Braves, moribund when Lucas took over, wound up winning the National League West in 1982 with a roster Lucas helped build.
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There's early 20th-century pioneer Edward Weston's disorienting details of mushroom caps and cabbage, and Irving Penn's gloriously gross still lifes -- raw steak, egg, potato chip and butter -- or Fischli & Weiss' playfully moribund sandwich meats.
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Besides being a public institution with a 30,000-plus enrollment, the Hornets’ football program has been moribund and its attendance dreadful for years.
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Syrah sales in the U.S. are stubbornly moribund despite the passionate exhortations of countless winemakers, sommeliers, writers, retailers and hard-core fans.
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Jordan is optimistic that Syfy’s trio of new sci-fi franchises can help resurrect the moribund space adventure genre.
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.
Did You Know?
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.
Origin and Etymology of moribund
Latin moribundus, from mori to die — more at murder
MORIBUND Defined for English Language Learners
moribund
playDefinition of moribund for English Language Learners
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: no longer active or effective : close to failure
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: very sick : close to death
Medical Dictionary
moribund
playMedical Definition of moribund
: being in the state of dying : approaching death in the moribund patient deepening stupor and coma are the usual preludes to death—Norman Cameron
Learn More about moribund
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Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for moribund Spanish Central: Translation of moribund Nglish: Translation of moribund for Spanish speakers
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