Coma

//ˈkoʊmə// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A state of unconsciousness from which one may not wake up, usually induced by some form of trauma.

    "go into a coma"

  2. 2
    A cloud of dust surrounding the nucleus of a comet.
  3. 3
    a state of deep and often prolonged unconsciousness; usually the result of disease or injury wordnet
  4. 4
    A defect characterized by diffuse, pear-shaped images that in an ideal image would appear as points.
  5. 5
    (astronomy) the luminous cloud of particles surrounding the frozen nucleus of a comet; forms as the comet approaches the sun and is warmed wordnet
Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    A tuft or bunch, such as the assemblage of branches forming the head of a tree, a cluster of bracts when empty and terminating the inflorescence of a plant, or a tuft of long hairs on certain seeds.
  2. 7
    (botany) a usually terminal tuft of bracts (as in the pineapple) or tuft of hairs (especially on certain seeds) wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
blackoutcatalepsycatatoniacatatonycomatosenessdullness

Antonyms

All antonyms
life

Example

More examples

"Scientists have been discovering new drugs, so there is always hope for someone in a coma."

Etymology

Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek κῶμα (kôma, “deep sleep”).

Etymology 2

Learned borrowing from Latin coma (“hair of the head”), from Ancient Greek κόμη (kómē, “hair”).

Related phrases

coma vigilcoma vigiledot-comafood comahyperosmolar comahyperosmolar hyperglycemic nonketoic comainduced comaturkey comabrain deathpersistent vegetative state

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.