zombie

noun

zom·​bie ˈzäm-bē How to pronounce zombie (audio)
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
… a morning rush of zombielike office workers, all starved for caffeine and clamoring for cappuccino. Bob Filipczak
zomboid 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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
These zombie ideas appear in the guise of old friends; insights, beliefs, practices and behaviors that are familiar, comfortable, and require little effort to slip into. Bill Fischer, Forbes, 26 Nov. 2024 Armed with a burrito, Edie rounded her car and sprinted to intercept the zombie. Carly Tagen-Dye, People.com, 19 Nov. 2024 More terrifying props await on the inside, including the reaper puppet master, the next-door murderer trying to escape through a metal door, and lots of other creepy zombies, ghosts, and dark creatures. Marco Rubio, Newsweek, 1 Nov. 2024 Listen to this article A zombie ant, a pair of bats and a gorilla lurked around the shadiest alcoves of a Cook County forest preserve on Saturday, scouring the earth for decomposing life forms. Peter Breen, Chicago Tribune, 30 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for zombie 

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of zombie was in 1928

Dictionary Entries Near zombie

Cite this Entry

“Zombie.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zombie. Accessed 7 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

zombie

noun
zom·​bie
variants also zombi
: 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

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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