Meanings
- not comparableAt rest, stationary, immobile, not moving.
Nothing was to be seen save flat meadows, cows for the most part feeding unconcernedly, and silvery pollard willows motionless in the warm sunlight.
1895–1897, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “What I Saw of the Destruction of Weybridge and Shepperton”, in “The War of the Worlds”, in Pearson’s, London: C[yril] Arthur Pearson, published 1897, pages 41–422 more examples
Nothing could be more businesslike than the construction of the stout dams, and nothing more gently rural than the limpid lakes, with the grand old forest trees marshalled round their margins like a veteran army that had marched down to drink, only to be stricken motionless at the water’s edge.
1913, Robert Barr, “The Mad Miss Maturin”, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad, London; Melbourne, Vic.; Toronto, Ont.: Ward, Lock & Co., →OCLC, pages 147–148We remain motionless in the platform while the ex-Edinburgh draws forward, the points are set, and it is propelled back for attachment. The Edinburgh locomotive uncoupled, a brake test is performed and we're away.
2023 February 8, Greg Morse, “Crossing the border... by Sleeper”, in RAIL, number 976, page 43Synonyms: impassive, unmoving, at rest, dull, impassive, inanimate, lifeless, sedent
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveAt rest, stationary, immobile, not moving.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Englishmotion
- Proto-Indo-European*lewh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*lewHs-
- Proto-Germanic*leusaną
- Proto-Germanic*lausaz
- Englishmotionless
Translations
Bulgarian неподвижен
- неподвижен (nepodvižen)at rest, not moving
Czech nehybný
- nehybnýat rest, not moving
Dutch bewegingsloos
- bewegingsloosat rest, not moving
Esperanto senmova
- senmovaat rest, not moving
Finnish liikkumaton
- liikkumatonat rest, not moving
French immobile
- immobileat rest, not moving
German unbeweglich, reglos
- unbeweglichat rest, not moving
- reglosat rest, not moving
- bewegungslosat rest, not moving
Greek ακίνητος
- ακίνητος (akínitos)at rest, not moving
Hindi स्थिर, गतिहीन
- स्थिर (sthir)at rest, not moving
- गतिहीन (gatihīn)at rest, not moving
- अचल (acal)at rest, not moving
- अचला (aclā)at rest, not moving
Icelandic grafkyrr, hreyfingarlaus
- grafkyrrat rest, not moving
- hreyfingarlausat rest, not moving
Italian immobile, immoto
- immobileat rest, not moving
- immotoat rest, not moving
- inerteat rest, not moving
Japanese 不動の
- 不動の (fudō-no)at rest, not moving
Māori whakaroau, pateko
- whakaroauat rest, not moving
- patekoat rest, not moving
Polish nieruchomy
- nieruchomyat rest, not moving
Portuguese imóvel
- imóvelat rest, not moving
Russian неподви́жный
- неподви́жный (nepodvížnyj)at rest, not moving
Spanish inmóvil, inerte
- inmóvilat rest, not moving
- inerteat rest, not moving
- quietoat rest, not moving
- en reposoat rest, not moving
Turkish hareketsiz
- hareketsizat rest, not moving
Ukrainian нерухо́мий
- нерухо́мий (neruxómyj)at rest, not moving
Cite this entry
motionless. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/motionless
“motionless.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/motionless. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “motionless,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/motionless.
Source: motionless on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.