1
as in dying
nearly dead
with its run-down look and empty aisles, the grocery store appeared moribund
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2
as in obsolete
having passed its time of use or usefulness
youngsters snickering at the moribund slang their parents were using
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Recent Examples of moribund
Hagey went on to found the San Diego Street Scene festival, which ran from 1984 to 2009 and helped transform downtown’s moribund Gaslamp Quarter into a thriving commercial and residential hotspot.
—
George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Mar. 2026
Sufien, bedridden and moribund at the book’s beginning, looks back on his life.
—Jasmine Vojdani, Vulture, 5 Mar. 2026
Holtz led the previously-moribund Gophers to a 10-12 record during his 1984-85 reign in Minneapolis.
—News Services, Twin Cities, 4 Mar. 2026
Five days are left until the NHL trade deadline, and the moribund Los Angeles Kings should have long since arrived at a couple of important conclusions.
—Eric Stephens, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for moribund
George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Mar. 2026
Sufien, bedridden and moribund at the book’s beginning, looks back on his life.
—Jasmine Vojdani, Vulture, 5 Mar. 2026
Holtz led the previously-moribund Gophers to a 10-12 record during his 1984-85 reign in Minneapolis.
—News Services, Twin Cities, 4 Mar. 2026
Five days are left until the NHL trade deadline, and the moribund Los Angeles Kings should have long since arrived at a couple of important conclusions.
—Eric Stephens, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for moribund
Recent Examples of Synonyms for moribund
Adjective
-
Garden centers aren't giving a refund for a dying or dead plant but rather a discount on a new purchase.—
Lauren David,
Southern Living,
17 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
So Apple got to work making its biggest success obsolete.—
Lisa Eadicicco,
CNN Money,
1 Apr. 2026
-
His lab continues to investigate diffuse gastric cancer, with the hope of developing a treatment or drug that makes a total gastrectomy obsolete.—
Sarah Zhang,
The Atlantic,
31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Trump’s 60-day suspension gives Congress the cover to repeal the archaic shipping law.—
Editorial Board,
Washington Post,
18 Mar. 2026
-
With news breaking that Meghan was pregnant with their son Archie, she and Harry were widely viewed as the fresh new faces of an archaic institution.—
Martha Ross,
Mercury News,
11 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Each advancement made the baseline antiquated.—
Alex Israel,
Fortune,
4 Apr. 2026
-
These antiquated institutions barely provide heat in the winter and cannot cool down in the summer.—
Steve Zeidman,
New York Daily News,
2 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
He was born in Oxford and raised in a village outside Salisbury, a medieval city not far from Stonehenge.—
John Blake,
CNN Money,
5 Apr. 2026
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Whitacre wrote the choral work, originally commissioned by the Los Angeles Master Chorale and recorded in 2020, using a text by his friend, poet and medieval history professor Charles Anthony Silvestri, on the faculty at Washburn University.—
Eric E. Harrison,
Arkansas Online,
4 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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The atmosphere is perfect, with rusty metal, hanging chains, and dripping water providing a backdrop for a bunch of tense chase scenes and gory chest explosions.—
K. Thor Jensen,
PC Magazine,
3 Apr. 2026
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William Clark, who was around the same age, was also unusually tall, though his hair was a rusty red, and sometimes the boys played together.—
Craig Fehrman,
The Conversation,
1 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Moribund.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/moribund. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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