What does "hibernate" mean?

To spend the winter in a dormant or inactive state of minimal activity, low body temperature, slow breathing and heart rate, and low metabolic rate; to go through a winter sleep.

What is a synonym for "hibernate"?

Common synonyms include: aestivate, be a sideliner, be latent, be still, coast, delay.

How do you pronounce "hibernate"?

Pronounced /[ˈhɑɪbəˌnɛɪt]/.

Hibernate

/[ˈhɑɪbəˌnɛɪt]/ verb

verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb

1
To spend the winter in a dormant or inactive state of minimal activity, low body temperature, slow breathing and heart rate, and low metabolic rate; to go through a winter sleep. intransitive
"Hedgehogs and bears are two of the many mammals that hibernate in winter."
2
sleep during winter wordnet
3
To live in seclusion. intransitive
4
be in an inactive or dormant state wordnet
5
To enter a standby state which conserves power without losing the contents of memory. intransitive
"Your computer hibernates after it has been idle for the specified amount of time."

Synonyms

All synonyms

aestivate be a sideliner be latent be still coast delay

Antonyms

All antonyms

aestivate estivate

Example

More examples

"Lactic-acid bacilli are such unyielding bacteria that, even if frozen, they would simply hibernate and can restore themselves as if they came back to life."

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin hībernātus, perfect passive participle of hībernō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from hībernus (“wintry”).

More for "hibernate"

Synonyms Sentences Pronunciation Translate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonyms See usage examples Check pronunciation Browse writing guides

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