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
When state troopers executed a search warrant at a motel where Zajko was staying, law enforcement found LaSota hiding in the bathroom of another room, laying still on the floor, his eyes closed, almost catatonic.
—
Mia Cathell, The Washington Examiner, 20 Oct. 2025
Extreme fatigue that turned mornings into catatonic nightmares.
—Eli Cahan, Rolling Stone, 16 Oct. 2025
The voice-over narration tells us that Alex’s parents remain catatonic, and, after a couple of years, some of the recovered children have only just begun to speak again.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 15 Aug. 2025
Other high-dollar attendees who posed for photographs with Obama and Biden described Biden as slow and almost catatonic.
—Jake Tapper, New Yorker, 13 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for catatonic
Mia Cathell, The Washington Examiner, 20 Oct. 2025
Extreme fatigue that turned mornings into catatonic nightmares.
—Eli Cahan, Rolling Stone, 16 Oct. 2025
The voice-over narration tells us that Alex’s parents remain catatonic, and, after a couple of years, some of the recovered children have only just begun to speak again.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 15 Aug. 2025
Other high-dollar attendees who posed for photographs with Obama and Biden described Biden as slow and almost catatonic.
—Jake Tapper, New Yorker, 13 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for catatonic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for catatonic
Adjective
-
The thought of a blank calendar is scarier than working eighty hours a week.—
Lien De Pau,
Forbes.com,
30 Jan. 2026
-
Fans tuning into the 2026 Grammys in hopes of seeing Taylor Swift will be left with a blank space on Sunday.—
Vivian Kwarm,
Mercury News,
28 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Video footage that circulated on social media shows the tourist lying motionless on the snowy ground, with the leopard sitting nearby.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN Money,
27 Jan. 2026
-
Footage shows a woman, who reportedly edged as close as 10 feet to the leopard, lying motionless in the snow as the predator hovered nearby after the mauling.—
Bonny Chu,
FOXNews.com,
27 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
His eyes were unblinking and vacant.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Jan. 2026
-
One of the latest battles emerged recently in Imperial County, where a court fight has erupted between the city of Imperial and a developer who wants to build a nearly 1 million-square-foot computer center on vacant land along the city’s border.—
James Rainey,
Los Angeles Times,
29 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Catatonic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/catatonic. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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