as in blank
not expressing any emotion
a catatonic stare was all that the neglected resident of the nursing home seemed capable of
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Recent Examples of catatonic
Do not let despair or doom and gloom put you into a catatonic funk.
—
Lance Eliot, Forbes, 17 Jan. 2025
Things were going fair to middling with his candidacy until Biden’s catastrophic, catatonic debate performance in June, which caused a major Democratic freak-out and resulted in his grudging departure from the ticket and endorsement of Harris.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2024
Netto and Schindler take pains to point out the irony of Iris’ predicament: Iris has emerged from the emotionally catatonic state that she’s been in since the day of her son’s accident… just to wind up in a physically catatonic state at the site of her son’s accident.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 25 Oct. 2024
Popular on Variety But a series of mysterious occurrences here and elsewhere in New England — the disappearances of children who later turn up, physically intact yet near-catatonic — grows more immediate once Ben gets pulled under during a night swim.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 3 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for catatonic
Lance Eliot, Forbes, 17 Jan. 2025
Things were going fair to middling with his candidacy until Biden’s catastrophic, catatonic debate performance in June, which caused a major Democratic freak-out and resulted in his grudging departure from the ticket and endorsement of Harris.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2024
Netto and Schindler take pains to point out the irony of Iris’ predicament: Iris has emerged from the emotionally catatonic state that she’s been in since the day of her son’s accident… just to wind up in a physically catatonic state at the site of her son’s accident.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 25 Oct. 2024
Popular on Variety But a series of mysterious occurrences here and elsewhere in New England — the disappearances of children who later turn up, physically intact yet near-catatonic — grows more immediate once Ben gets pulled under during a night swim.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 3 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for catatonic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for catatonic
Adjective
-
Rocha’s face was blank and emotionless after he was given his fate, his standard expression throughout the trial.—
PJ Green
October 9,
Kansas City Star,
9 Oct. 2025
-
Cutting back to the blank face, the viewer will likely infer that the person is hungry or sad, or happy.—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
9 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Lewis was briefly motionless and was carted off after being attended to for about 10 minutes this past Saturday.—
Chantz Martin,
FOXNews.com,
8 Oct. 2025
-
Her bright white legs stood out starkly against the boat, looking almost motionless in the frame.—
Alice Gibbs,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Once considered safe bets for steady rent, many now sit vacant.—
Amachie Ackah,
Fortune,
10 Oct. 2025
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Currently vacant, the building sits on a 1-acre parcel and includes a loading dock, freight elevator, multiple bathrooms and a main office with lobby.—
Matthew Glowicki,
Louisville Courier Journal,
9 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Catatonic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/catatonic. Accessed 13 Oct. 2025.
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