zombie institutions

Noun

zombie institution (plural zombie institutions)

1. Synonym of zombie business.
   • The problem is aggravated even further by the absence of any reliable mechanism to close down zombie institutions before they can inflict too much damage on other parties.1993, Kevin Dowd, Laissez Faire Banking, page 301

   Synonyms:

   zombie business

2. Synonym of zombie organization.
   • In my youth, sad to say, my closest encounter with a zombie institution seemed to be the Department of Motor Vehicles, where employees dulled by low expectations slowly and sullenly served frustrated citizens under pallid fluorescent lights.2013, Andy Crouch, Playing God: Redeeming the Gift of Power, page 199

   Synonyms:

   zombie organization

3. An institution (custom or practice) that has lost its relevance or meaning.
   • In the words of Ulrich Beck, the church may be considered another example of a 'zombie institution', like family, class and neighborhood.2007, Heinz Streib, Religion Inside and Outside Traditional Institutions, page 183
4. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see zombie, institution.
   • Trying to orient the self that my ass was busy trying to save as it hauled me through the corridors of this bloody zombie institution .2020, Albert Aykler, Just Say Zombie: A Pre-Apocalypse Madhouse Zombie Novel