adj, noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A person who is near to dying.

Adjective

1. 1
   Approaching death; about to die; dying; expiring. not-comparable

   "These moribund shapes were free as air—and nearly as thin."

2. 2
   Almost obsolete; nearing an end. figuratively, not-comparable

Adjective

1. 1
   being on the point of death; breathing your last wordnet
2. 2
   not growing or changing; without force or vitality wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

dyingstagnantacheronticapatheticbadbenumbed

Antonyms

All antonyms

emergentnascent

Example

More examples

"The organization was once quite active, but now it's effectively moribund."

Etymology

From Latin moribundus (“dying”).

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