as in blank
not expressing any emotion
a catatonic stare was all that the neglected resident of the nursing home seemed capable of
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Recent Examples of catatonic
Do not let despair or doom and gloom put you into a catatonic funk.
—
Lance Eliot, Forbes, 17 Jan. 2025
Things were going fair to middling with his candidacy until Biden’s catastrophic, catatonic debate performance in June, which caused a major Democratic freak-out and resulted in his grudging departure from the ticket and endorsement of Harris.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2024
Netto and Schindler take pains to point out the irony of Iris’ predicament: Iris has emerged from the emotionally catatonic state that she’s been in since the day of her son’s accident… just to wind up in a physically catatonic state at the site of her son’s accident.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 25 Oct. 2024
But Folie à Deux uses Arthur’s catatonic depression to emphasize what his path to stardom really was: a killing spree that landed him in jail and well on his way to being executed by the state.
—Charles Pulliam-Moore, The Verge, 4 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for catatonic
Lance Eliot, Forbes, 17 Jan. 2025
Things were going fair to middling with his candidacy until Biden’s catastrophic, catatonic debate performance in June, which caused a major Democratic freak-out and resulted in his grudging departure from the ticket and endorsement of Harris.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2024
Netto and Schindler take pains to point out the irony of Iris’ predicament: Iris has emerged from the emotionally catatonic state that she’s been in since the day of her son’s accident… just to wind up in a physically catatonic state at the site of her son’s accident.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 25 Oct. 2024
But Folie à Deux uses Arthur’s catatonic depression to emphasize what his path to stardom really was: a killing spree that landed him in jail and well on his way to being executed by the state.
—Charles Pulliam-Moore, The Verge, 4 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for catatonic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for catatonic
Adjective
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Around the world, natural disasters—including the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 and Hurricane Katrina the following year—have entrenched this concept, whereby crises create a blank sheet ready to be exploited by Big Business.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
5 June 2025
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Dawkins will send a standard set of 10 blank nails, one each in every size (small, medium, large) so customers can try them on and decide their best fit.—
Ruth Etiesit Samuel,
Essence,
4 June 2025
Adjective
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Housing has emerged as a key issue in this year’s mayoral race as the city reels from skyrocketing rents and a dearth of vacant apartments, and there’s widespread agreement more units must be built.—
Chris Sommerfeldt,
New York Daily News,
6 June 2025
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Hartford Prints! has taken over a vacant storefront next door, has broken down a wall and joined the two spaces.—
Kenneth R. Gosselin,
Hartford Courant,
1 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Catatonic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/catatonic. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.
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