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
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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
-
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
-
Regina was standing by the window now, looking even more gaunt under the artificial light of the bulb behind her and the faint glow of the sunrise in front, which barely managed to filter through the balcony awning.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
22 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The legs of the males are pale tan, while the torso is a dark blue.—
Chloe Chapin,
Washington Post,
20 Feb. 2026
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This includes the black-and-white Courtly Check, pale-pink Rosy Check, ornate Butterfly Toile, springtime-evoking Wildflowers, and Butterfly Hill.—
Stacia Datskovska,
Footwear News,
20 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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That fact, plus certain skeletal traits, led some scientists to hypothesize Spinosaurus was fully aquatic, an open-water swimmer and diving pursuit predator in a marine setting.—
Reuters,
NBC news,
20 Feb. 2026
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Reintroducing cheetahs in Saudi Arabia Alongside the seven cheetah mummies, the researchers came across skeletal remains of 54 additional cats within the caves.—
Taylor Nicioli,
CNN Money,
20 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
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
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No one’s going to want to watch a haggard perimenopausal woman who’s badly lit.—
Mikey O'Connell,
HollywoodReporter,
15 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cadaverous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cadaverous. Accessed 26 Feb. 2026.
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