Meanings
adjectivemoribund (not comparable)
- not comparableApproaching death; about to die; dying; expiring.
These moribund shapes were free as air—and nearly as thin.
1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 206, column 2
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivebeing on the point of death; breathing your last
Similar
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinmoribundus“dying”
- Englishmoribund
From Latin moribundus (“dying”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian умиращ
- умиращ (umirašt)approaching death
Catalan moribund
- moribundapproaching death
Chinese Mandarin 垂死, 腐朽
- 垂死 (chuísǐ)approaching death
- 腐朽 (fǔxiǔ)approaching death
- 瀕死 /濒死 (bīnsǐ)approaching death
Czech moribundní
- moribundníapproaching death
Danish døende, uddøende
- døendeapproaching death
- uddøendealmost obsolete
Finnish kuoleva, poistuva
- kuolevaapproaching death
- poistuvaalmost obsolete
- loppuvaalmost obsolete
- katoavaalmost obsolete
French moribond, mourant
- moribondapproaching death
- mourantapproaching death
German moribund, todgeweiht
- moribundapproaching death
- todgeweihtapproaching death
Greek ετοιμοθάνατος
- ετοιμοθάνατος (etoimothánatos)approaching death
Hungarian haldokló, halódó
- haldoklóapproaching death
- halódóapproaching death
- kihalófélben lévőalmost obsolete
- kihalóban lévőalmost obsolete
Icelandic dauðvona, (to be moribund) liggja fyrir dauðanum
- dauðvonaapproaching death
- (to be moribund) liggja fyrir dauðanumapproaching death
- að dauða kominnapproaching death
Indonesian nazak, sekarat
- nazakapproaching death
- sekaratapproaching death
- hampir matialmost obsolete
Irish díbheo
- díbheoapproaching death
Italian moribondo, morente
- moribondoapproaching death
- morenteapproaching death
Japanese 瀕死の, 死にかけている
- 瀕死の (hinshi-no)approaching death
- 死にかけている (shi-ni kakete iru)approaching death
Latin moribundus
- moribundusapproaching death
Malay nazak
- nazakapproaching death
Norwegian døende
- døendeapproaching death
Polish umierający, konający
- umierającyapproaching death
- konającyapproaching death
Portuguese moribundo, morrediço
- moribundoapproaching death
- morrediçoapproaching death
- morrenteapproaching death
Russian умира́ющий, агони́рующий
- умира́ющий (umirájuščij)approaching death
- агони́рующий (agonírujuščij)approaching death
- загнива́ющий (zagnivájuščij)approaching death
- устарева́ющий (ustarevájuščij)almost obsolete
- выходя́щий из употребле́ния (vyxodjáščij iz upotreblénija)almost obsolete
Spanish moribundo, mortecino
- moribundoapproaching death
- mortecinoapproaching death
Swedish döende, utdöende
- döendeapproaching death
- utdöendealmost obsolete
Thai ร่อแร่
- ร่อแร่ (rɔ̂ɔ-rɛ̂ɛ)approaching death
Turkish can çekişen
- can çekişenapproaching death
Ukrainian вмираючий, відсталий
- вмираючий (vmyrajučyj)approaching death
- відсталий (vidstalyj)almost obsolete
- той, що виходить з вжитку (toj, ščo vyxodytʹ z vžytku)almost obsolete
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
moribund. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/moribund
MLA
“moribund.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/moribund. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “moribund,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/moribund.
Source: moribund on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.