1
as in pallid
lacking a healthy skin color
everyone always looks cadaverous in the winter
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in gaunt
suffering extreme weight loss as a result of hunger or disease
a cadaverous cancer patient living out his final days with dignity and courage
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Recent Examples of cadaverous
As the hulking creature, the Australian star appears to have pale, cadaverous skin with lacerations across it and long, stringy hair.
—
Jack Smart, PEOPLE, 24 Oct. 2025
Plus, the kid isn’t dead either, as his flailing pale self that looks on the verge of the cadaverous pops out of the trunk Jack shoves him in.
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 1 Sep. 2024
Moreover, keeping the cadaverous Biden in the White House is a daily reminder to the American people of the feebleness and anemia of the Democratic Party, which taints Harris by association.
—Armstrong Williams, Baltimore Sun, 23 July 2024
Concluding that the medical students and obstetricians were causing puerperal fever in their pregnant patients by infecting them with cadaverous particles on their hands, Semmelweis instituted some harsh protocols.
—Sabrina Sholts, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Mar. 2024
Looking at that picture, the back of Biden's neck looks cadaverous.
—Charles C. W. Cooke, National Review, 30 Oct. 2023
Then those cadaverous mistakes are doing them in and losing games.
—Sportsday Staff, Dallas News, 25 May 2023
Season 2 picks up 10 years after Sam Walker (Sprouse) discovered the unspeakable secrets of Drisking, Mo., when a ghost of the past arrives to drag him back for revenge — and back to the cadaverous forests that color his nightmares… and back to the gates of Borrasca.
—Todd Spangler, Variety, 31 Mar. 2022
Jack Smart, PEOPLE, 24 Oct. 2025
Plus, the kid isn’t dead either, as his flailing pale self that looks on the verge of the cadaverous pops out of the trunk Jack shoves him in.
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 1 Sep. 2024
Moreover, keeping the cadaverous Biden in the White House is a daily reminder to the American people of the feebleness and anemia of the Democratic Party, which taints Harris by association.
—Armstrong Williams, Baltimore Sun, 23 July 2024
Concluding that the medical students and obstetricians were causing puerperal fever in their pregnant patients by infecting them with cadaverous particles on their hands, Semmelweis instituted some harsh protocols.
—Sabrina Sholts, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Mar. 2024
Looking at that picture, the back of Biden's neck looks cadaverous.
—Charles C. W. Cooke, National Review, 30 Oct. 2023
Then those cadaverous mistakes are doing them in and losing games.
—Sportsday Staff, Dallas News, 25 May 2023
Season 2 picks up 10 years after Sam Walker (Sprouse) discovered the unspeakable secrets of Drisking, Mo., when a ghost of the past arrives to drag him back for revenge — and back to the cadaverous forests that color his nightmares… and back to the gates of Borrasca.
—Todd Spangler, Variety, 31 Mar. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cadaverous
Adjective
-
Out of the bloodstains shone a pair of bright blue eyes, and a heart was beating under the pallid skin that looked several sizes too big.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Jan. 2026
-
Three weeks after that hit that sent a crowd of 75,261 at Empower Field into a pallid silence, Bryant is ever the same.—
Joe Nguyen,
Denver Post,
17 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Lie’s Evans is gaunt and distant, a shy man hidden behind a veil of cigarette smoke, unable to process — or even express — his grief.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
5 Mar. 2026
-
Nitibhon, a Thai supermodel, plays her tycoon as comically drab, keeping her gaunt cheeks slack to emphasize her character’s hollowness.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
4 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
For your own pale pink feathery moment, try this Midi slip dress from Anthropologie ($90).—
Elizabeth Logan,
Glamour,
16 Mar. 2026
-
The neutral tones of her makeup paired perfectly with her pale, champagne gown, and her oodles of diamonds feel completed by her jewelry-like nail art.—
Marci Robin,
Allure,
15 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The exact mechanism behind these skeletal changes isn’t fully understood.—
Jennifer Byrne,
Popular Science,
5 Mar. 2026
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Seeing a skeletal creature materialize in the darkness is ominous; returning to the site to find that it’s disappeared is even worse.—
Alex Barasch,
New Yorker,
4 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Wrexham, meanwhile, was near the bottom, struggling in England’s lowest division under a haggard fan-ownership group keeping it on life support.—
Justin Birnbaum,
Sportico.com,
6 Mar. 2026
-
As Derya and Aziz’s hypocrisies, as upper-class intellectuals, are increasingly brought to the fore, Namal and Biçer’s conversational performances grow haggard and strained.—
Siddhant Adlakha,
Variety,
13 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cadaverous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cadaverous. Accessed 16 Mar. 2026.
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