Meaning & use
lifeless
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Dead, or not alive and unable to move.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: a lifeless body; the body was lifeless.
Patterns
- lifeless body
- lie lifeless
Rescuers found a lifeless bird on the beach after the storm.
The doll lay lifeless on the floor.
He saw the lifeless form of a fox beside the road.
adjectivebefore a noun
Never able to support living things, such as a barren planet or a polluted lake.
Grammar: Usually before a noun: a lifeless desert.
Patterns
- lifeless desert
- lifeless planet
The moon is a lifeless world of gray dust.
Chemicals had left the river lifeless.
Scientists searched for signs of life on the lifeless planet.
adjectivecomparablefigurativedisapproving
Lacking energy, color or interest; dull.
Grammar: Figurative; used for performances or places: a lifeless speech.
Patterns
- a lifeless performance
The actor delivered his lines in a lifeless voice.
The office felt lifeless without the usual chatter.
Her eyes looked lifeless after the long night.
Word forms
| comparative | more lifeless |
|---|---|
| superlative | most lifeless |
Common combinations
- lifeless body
- Police found a lifeless body in the water.
- lifeless eyes
- The portrait had lifeless eyes.
- lifeless performance
- Critics called it a lifeless performance.
- lie lifeless
- The kitten lay lifeless in the grass.
- seem lifeless
- The town seemed lifeless at noon.
Synonyms and how they differ
- dead
- Dead is the plain word for no longer alive, whereas lifeless can also describe something that never lived or lacks spirit.
- inanimate
- Inanimate describes things that were never alive, such as stones, while lifeless can describe something that has lost life.
- listless
- Listless means lacking energy or interest, but a person who is listless is still alive, unlike one who is lifeless.
- dull
- Dull is mild and general, while lifeless is stronger and implies a total lack of spark.
Opposites
Word family
- life noun
- the state of being alive
- lifelessly adverb
- in a way that shows no life or energy
- lifelessness noun
- the state of having no life
- lifelike adjective
- looking as if alive
Commonly confused: lifeless or lifelike?
lifeless vs lifelike
Lifelike means looking real or alive, almost the opposite of lifeless, which means showing no life.
Practice
Her performance was so ___ that the audience began checking their phones.
Choose one answer.
Lifeless means dull and without energy, which would bore an audience. Lively and vibrant mean the opposite, and lifelike describes realism.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “lifeless”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.