undead

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undead

/ʌnˈdɛd/
/ˈʌndɛd/

Rhymes with -ɛd

Where it comes from

From Middle English undede, equivalent to un- + dead. The first attestation is from around 1400. The term was revived, popularized, and imbued with supernatural connotations by its usage in Bram Stoker's novel Dracula (1897).

adjective un-dead

dated, not comparable Not dead; alive.
not comparable Pertaining to a corpse, though having qualities of life.
not comparable Being animate, though non-living. When Anna and John finally break out of their self-centered bubbles to the shock that they must battle to the death an undead neighbor in a giant snowman costume, it plays like a poignant comment on movie teenagers' tendency to indulge their inner lives, ignorant of the world around them.

noun undead · undeads · un-dead

countable, uncountable A creature that is undead; that is, dead but still animate. Innocent VIII lent credibility to the actual existence of undeads, an action that perpetuated, and even stimulated, vampire hysteria.
countable, plural, plural only, uncountable, with definite article Those who are undead. In the zombie movie, an army of the undead accosted some unsuspecting teenagers.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: vampire, living, alive, death, dead, vamp, undeadly, cadaveric, necrobiotic, ghoulish, feral, zombic, zootic, necroscopic, cadevaric, necrochemical

Translations

Every language

adj being animate, though non-living

Español	no muerto, zombi, muerto viviente
Português	morto-vivo
Français	mort-vivant
Deutsch	untot
Italiano	non morto

noun those creatures which are dead but still animate

Español	no muerto, muerto viviente
한국어	언데드 eondedeu
日本語	アンデッド andeddo
中文	亡靈 /亡灵 wánglíng, 不死族
Português	morto-vivo
Français	mort-vivant
Deutsch	Untoter, Untote
Italiano	non morto, morto vivente
Русский	не́жить néžitʹ

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Cite this

MLA

"undead." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/undead. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

undead. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/undead

Chicago

"undead." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/undead.

BibTeX

@misc{undead_2026,
  title = {undead},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/undead},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}