halfdead

H4A1L1F4D2E1A1D2

adjective

Halfway dead; only partially alive.

Scrabble 16

Meanings

adjectivehalfdead (not comparable)

alternative half dead · alternative half-dead

  1. not comparableHalfway dead; only partially alive.

    But even after he was beyond the danger zone, he still felt halfdead.

    1999, Patti Massman, Susan Rosser, A Matter of Betrayal
    3 more examples

    Until the day King Nax had seized him and shattered his legs—not broken them, but shattered them, eight men taking turns with a mallet—and then sent him home, halfdead, to his wife, Aliss, in the northern Dells.

    2009, Kristin Cashore, Fire

    Some may be halfdead physically; they need people to visit them in the hospital or in their homes. But there are many more who are halfdead in other ways.

    2010, Wayne Gordon, Who Is My Neighbor?

    [...] from a vantage point of security, the lawyer is taught to ask the question from the vantage point of one lying halfdead by the side of the road.

    2010, Robert A Gagnon, The Bible and Homosexual Practice

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see

Origin

  1. Proto-Germanic*halbadaudaz“halfdead”
  2. Old Englishhealfdēad“half-dead”
  3. Middle Englishhalfdede
  4. Englishhalfdead

From Middle English halfdede, from Old English healfdēad (“half-dead”), from Proto-Germanic *halbadaudaz (“halfdead”), equivalent to half- + dead. Cognate with West Frisian healdea (“halfdead”), Dutch halfdood (“halfdead”), German Low German halvdood (“halfdead”), German halbtot (“halfdead”), Swedish halvdöd (“halfdead”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bengali অর্ধমৃত, আধমরা
  • অর্ধমৃত (ordhomrito)halfway dead; partially alive
  • আধমরা (adhmora)halfway dead; partially alive
Chinese Mandarin 半死不活, 半死半活
  • 半死不活 (bànsǐbùhuó)halfway dead; partially alive
  • 半死半活 (bànsǐ bànhuó)halfway dead; partially alive
Czech polomrtvý
  • polomrtvýhalfway dead; partially alive
Danish halvdød
  • halvdødhalfway dead; partially alive
Dutch halfdood
  • halfdoodhalfway dead; partially alive
French demi-mort
  • demi-morthalfway dead; partially alive
Hungarian félholt
  • félholthalfway dead; partially alive
Icelandic hálfdauður
  • hálfdauðurhalfway dead; partially alive
Irish bogmharbh, leathmharbh
  • bogmharbhhalfway dead; partially alive
  • leathmharbhhalfway dead; partially alive
  • díbheohalfway dead; partially alive
Polish półumarły
  • półumarłyhalfway dead; partially alive
Russian полумёртвый
  • полумёртвый (polumjórtvyj)halfway dead; partially alive
Swedish halvdöd
  • halvdödhalfway dead; partially alive
Ukrainian напівме́ртвий, півме́ртвий
  • напівме́ртвий (napivmértvyj)halfway dead; partially alive
  • півме́ртвий (pivmértvyj)halfway dead; partially alive
Cite this entry
APA

halfdead. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/halfdead

MLA

“halfdead.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/halfdead. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “halfdead,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/halfdead.

Source: halfdead on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.