Prostrate
adj, verb ·Common ·Middle school level
Definitions
- 1 To lie flat or face-down. often, reflexive
- 2 render helpless or defenseless wordnet
- 3 To throw oneself down in submission. also, figuratively
"Those who had the privilege of approaching him, had to prostrate themselves before him in profound humility[…]"
- 4 throw down flat, as on the ground wordnet
- 5 To cause to lie down, to flatten.
"How many of these mighty pines were to be prostrated under that approaching tempest!"
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 get into a prostrate position, as in submission wordnet
- 7 To overcome or overpower. figuratively
"Why this very minute she's prostrated with grief."
- 1 Lying flat, face-down. not-comparable
"Prostrate fall / Before him reverent, and there confess / Humbly our faults."
- 2 Emotionally devastated. figuratively, not-comparable
- 3 Physically incapacitated from environmental exposure or debilitating disease. not-comparable
"He was prostrate from the extreme heat."
- 4 Trailing on the ground; procumbent. not-comparable
- 5 Prostrated. not-comparable, obsolete
- 1 stretched out and lying at full length along the ground wordnet
- 2 lying face downward wordnet
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"He lay prostrate, ready to ambush the invaders."
Etymology
From Middle English prostrat(e) (“prostrate”, also used as the past participle of prostraten), borrowed from Latin prōstrātus, perfect passive participle of prōsternō (“to prostrate”). Participial usage up until Early Modern English.
From Middle English prostraten (“(reflexive) to prostrate; (with doun) to fall down in a state of humility or submission”), from prostrat(e) (“prostrate, prostrated”, also used as the past participle of prostraten) + -en (verb-forming suffix), from Latin prōstrātus, see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.
Related phrases
More for "prostrate"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.