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
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
But Folie à Deux uses Arthur’s catatonic depression to emphasize what his path to stardom really was: a killing spree that landed him in jail and well on his way to being executed by the state.
—Charles Pulliam-Moore, The Verge, 4 Oct. 2024
The brevity is, of course, a function of Joe Biden’s catatonic debate performance, ensuing Democratic panic and the president’s overnight replacement in the shank of summer by his vice presidential understudy, Kamala Harris.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for catatonic
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
But Folie à Deux uses Arthur’s catatonic depression to emphasize what his path to stardom really was: a killing spree that landed him in jail and well on his way to being executed by the state.
—Charles Pulliam-Moore, The Verge, 4 Oct. 2024
The brevity is, of course, a function of Joe Biden’s catatonic debate performance, ensuing Democratic panic and the president’s overnight replacement in the shank of summer by his vice presidential understudy, Kamala Harris.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for catatonic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for catatonic
Adjective
-
Rivera climbed into Feliz’s car; threatened, beat, and tased him, and then shot him in the chest point blank.—
Lourdes Rosado,
New York Daily News,
30 Apr. 2025
-
His most lucrative title at one point was a blank book—a patented scrapbook of his own invention.—
Lauren Michele Jackson,
New Yorker,
28 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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In the 13th century, the papacy was vacant for almost three years before the election of Gregory X, who tightened up conclave rules.—
John Bacon,
USA Today,
2 May 2025
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The lot had been vacant since the early 1900s when this house was completed in 2018.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
2 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Catatonic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/catatonic. Accessed 6 May. 2025.
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