zombie

noun

zom·​bie ˈzäm-bē 

variants or less commonly zombi

1

a

: a will-less and speechless human (as in voodoo belief and in fictional stories) held to have died and been supernaturally reanimated

b

: the supernatural power that according to voodoo belief may enter into and reanimate a dead body

2

a

: a person held to resemble the so-called walking dead

especially : automaton

b

: a person markedly strange in appearance or behavior

3

: a mixed drink made of several kinds of rum, liqueur, and fruit juice

zombielike adjective

or zombie-like

ˈzäm-bē-ˌlīk 

… a morning rush of zombielike office workers, all starved for caffeine and clamoring for cappuccino.

—Bob Filipczak

zomboid

ˈzäm-ˌbȯid 

adjective

This is a poetry eerily populated with ghosts and mummies and zomboid creatures who go on living though dead from love.

—Patrick McGarth

Examples of zombie in a Sentence

If I don't go to bed early I'll be a zombie tomorrow.

His students usually sat there in the classroom like zombies.

Recent Examples on the Web

His reboot of the ’90s zombie video game has collected $60 million in its opening weekend. — Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 20 Sep. 2026

To filter a movie about the origins of a zombie/monster epidemic through the point of view of a hapless outsider is an amusing, if rather one-note, concept. — Alison Willmore, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2026

Paramount’s version turned the zombie horror movie into a global disaster movie, focused on a former United Nations worker who travels the planet in a mad search for a cure to the zombie outbreak. — Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 18 Sep. 2026

Black Zombie uncovers the Haitian roots of the zombie, exposing how Western cinema transformed spiritual tradition into horror while stripping it of identity, agency, and history. — Matthew Carey, Deadline, 17 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Louisiana Creole or Haitian Creole zonbi, of Bantu origin; akin to Kimbundu nzúmbe ghost

First Known Use

1928, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for zombie

• combi
• thrombi

Kids Definition

zombie

noun

zom·​bie

variants also zombi

ˈzäm-bē 

: a person who is believed to have died and been brought back to life without speech or free will

Etymology

Louisiana Creole or Haitian Creole zonbi, of Bantu origin