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

Moore’s Mona Friedman is a New Jersey homemaker who has become a Stepford zombie, because no one seems to need her anymore. — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 6 Sep. 2026

The film tells the story of a biological weapon being unleashed inside a Seoul skyscraper that turns the people trapped inside the building into a deadly zombie hive mind. — Abid Rahman, HollywoodReporter, 1 Sep. 2026

Yeon Sang-ho’s zombie thriller Colony has been selected as the TIFF Closing Film. — Liz Shackleton, Deadline, 1 Sep. 2026

Scott ventures into sci-fi once more with ‘The Dog Stars,’ a postapocalyptic thriller that trades zombies for pandemics and asks whether hope can outlast catastrophe. — Emily Zemler, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 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