Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use dead in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective, adverb, noun

Dead means no longer living; deceased. (Also used as a noun.). Example: “All of my grandparents are dead.”

Examples of dead by meaning

adjectiveNo longer living; deceased. (Also used as a noun.).

  • All of my grandparents are dead.
  • Have respect for the dead.
  • The villagers are mourning their dead.

adjectiveDevoid of living things; barren.

  • a dead planet
  • Was it possible to exist upon a dead world?1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, “(please specify the page)”, in The Poison Belt […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC

adjectiveUtterly exhausted.

  • Quite frankly, I'm dead!”1970, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle, Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, page 124

adjectiveSo hated or offensive as to be absolutely shunned, ignored, or ostracized.

  • He is dead to me.

adjectiveDoomed; marked for death; as good as dead.

  • "You come back here this instant! Oh, you're dead, mister!"
  • This time you're dead.2009, Noel Hynd, Midnight in Madrid

adjectiveWithout emotion; impassive.

  • She stood with dead face and limp arms, unresponsive to my plea.

adjectiveStationary; static; immobile or immovable.

  • the dead load on the floor
  • a dead lift

adjectiveWithout interest to one of the senses; dull; flat.

  • a dead glass of soda.
  • He stopped, took a swig of the dead champagne.1969 March 31, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Slaughterhouse-Five […] (A Seymour Lawrence Book), New York, N.Y.: Delacorte Press, →OCLC, page 65

More sentences with dead

  • The investigation stalled when all leads turned out to be dead ends.From the entry lead
  • Respect for the dead does not preclude respect for the living.From the entry living
  • I tried to make a call, but the line was dead.From the entry line
  • The woman found dead in her kitchen was murdered by her husband.From the entry murder
  • The performance was fine until he cracked that dead baby joke.From the entry crack
  • The rewards for bringing in badly wanted criminals are printed on 'dead or alive' posters.From the entry reward
  • The investigation into the crime has led to various leads as well as plenty of dead ends.From the entry investigation
  • Even animals in the Jewish system cause impurity only when they are dead.From the entry impurity
  • He healeth the blind and he reareth to life the dead.From the entry rear
  • Usually gangrene will follow necrosis unless the dead tissue is resected.From the entry necrosis
  • The herald blew his trumpet and shouted that the King was dead.From the entry herald
  • Her father suggested that she decline the job because it was a dead end.From the entry dead end
  • They fired the production engineer because too many moments of dead air were interrupting the broadcast.From the entry dead air
  • Polls indicated a dead heat for the office of dog catcher.From the entry dead heat
  • She wants to shed the dead weight of so many stacks of old clutter.From the entry dead weight
  • He rolled the red in dead weight, and now he's nicely on the blue.From the entry dead weight
  • It's a dead cert that United will beat City in the cup.From the entry dead cert
  • He is a dead ringer for his grandfather at that age.From the entry dead ringer
  • Jones got on board with a dead bird to start the inning.From the entry dead bird
  • She's a dead duck if she starts flirting with my boyfriend!From the entry dead duck
  • The government decision meant that the proposed boycott of South African goods was a dead duck.From the entry dead duck
  • "Can I get a new sports car?" "Over my dead body!"From the entry over my dead body
  • This box contained rat poison, now it contains a dead rat.From the entry contained
  • I would not be caught dead in such a skimpy dress.From the entry not be caught dead
  • We cut down the limbless tree for firewood. It was dead anyways.From the entry limbless
  • I tried the flashlight, but the battery was as dead as a doorknob.From the entry dead as a doorknob

Meaning of dead

  1. adjective No longer living; deceased. (Also used as a noun.).
  2. adjective Devoid of living things; barren.
  3. adjective Figuratively, not alive; lacking life.

Full definition of dead

Questions about dead in a sentence

How do you use dead in a sentence?
Dead is used as an adjective, adverb and noun. For example: “All of my grandparents are dead.”
What is a short sentence with dead?
“a dead lift”
What does dead mean?
Dead means no longer living; deceased. (Also used as a noun.).

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dead (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use dead in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/dead. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.