1
as in sleeping
being in a state of suspended consciousness
the bears lay dormant in their den during the winter
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in vacant
not being in a state of use, activity, or employment
the engine lay dormant in the garage until we found a use for it
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of dormant
For a Washington franchise stuck in the basement for most of the last decade, a new trio of stars could immediately jumpstart a dormant franchise.
—
Scott Phillips, New York Times, 11 May 2026
The real reason to cut the plant back in the early spring is that the skin-irritating sap is not as pronounced during the plant’s dormant stage.
—Marie Iannotti, The Spruce, 9 May 2026
Under her leadership, the AfD has proposed cutting taxes, reducing bureaucracy, and reviving Germany’s dormant nuclear energy sector.
—Nick Tabor, Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 May 2026
Pruning and Overwintering Any major pruning should be done in winter, when mulberries are dormant, as this is the least stressful time to prune them, as with many other trees.
—Rae Ford, Martha Stewart, 8 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for dormant
Scott Phillips, New York Times, 11 May 2026
The real reason to cut the plant back in the early spring is that the skin-irritating sap is not as pronounced during the plant’s dormant stage.
—Marie Iannotti, The Spruce, 9 May 2026
Under her leadership, the AfD has proposed cutting taxes, reducing bureaucracy, and reviving Germany’s dormant nuclear energy sector.
—Nick Tabor, Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 May 2026
Pruning and Overwintering Any major pruning should be done in winter, when mulberries are dormant, as this is the least stressful time to prune them, as with many other trees.
—Rae Ford, Martha Stewart, 8 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for dormant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dormant
Adjective
-
An autopsy showed that the infant died from asphyxiation secondary to a co-sleeping/overlay event with an unsafe sleeping environment.—
Laura Bauer,
Kansas City Star,
26 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
For example, with more vacant downtown office space on the market, the city should work to bring more office-to-housing conversion projects online.—
David Garrick,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 May 2026
-
That council seat was vacant for less than six weeks.—
Nick Sullivan,
Charlotte Observer,
7 May 2026
Adjective
-
He was advised to turn back along the same route and keep moving to avoid falling asleep through hypothermia.—
Gabrielle Rockson,
PEOPLE,
28 Apr. 2026
-
In the official teaser, Lowen is slinking around the Crawford family house wearing a silk robe while Verity is fast asleep in bed.—
Rebecca Rubin,
Variety,
27 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The plane to be used to repatriate Dutch and other nationals stands idle at the Tenerife Sur-Reina Sofia Airport awaiting evacuees from the Hondius on Sunday.—
Phil Helsel,
NBC news,
10 May 2026
-
The deflating defeat, narrated by an intermittent cascade of boos, rendered their record the worst in baseball at 7-16 and suddenly a half-game lousier than the idle New York Mets.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
8 May 2026
Adjective
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That’s because when the body experiences physical stress, including losing weight quickly, more hairs can shift into a resting phase and fall out a few months later — typically two to three months after the event, Rossi explains.—
Tom Gavin,
EverydayHealth.com,
17 Feb. 2026
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This is a condition where, due to stress or hormonal changes, the body puts the hair follicles into a resting phase.—
Essence,
Essence,
19 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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As a result, the processor spends a lot of time moving parameters from VRAM to compute units for each token, and compute cycles are going unused during this process.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
6 May 2026
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Activities such as opening and cleaning long unused buildings, cleaning up rodent nests or droppings without appropriate precautions, and working in a field that increases exposure to rodents, such as construction, utility work, pest control and farming, also can up the risks.—
Don Sweeney,
Sacbee.com,
5 May 2026
Adjective
-
And their struggles are why Thursday’s off day couldn’t come at a better time.—
Justice delos Santos,
Mercury News,
7 May 2026
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The service On a recent off-season autumn stay a few weeks after opening, service felt friendly, low-key, knowledgeable—and fairly hands-off, mostly for the better.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
7 May 2026
Adjective
-
Prune all dead trunks back to the ground.—
Tom MacCubbin,
The Orlando Sentinel,
10 May 2026
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The driver and a passenger in the Infiniti, neither of whom were wearing seat belts, were pronounced dead at the scene, the CHP said.—
Andrew Khouri,
Los Angeles Times,
10 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Dormant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dormant. Accessed 12 May. 2026.
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