Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of, resembling, or characteristic of death.
  • adjective Causing death; fatal.
  • adverb In the manner of death.
  • adverb Extremely; very.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Like or characteristic of death; partaking of the nature or appearance of death: as, a deathly swoon; deathly pallor.
  • Threatening death; fatal; mortal; deadly.
  • Synonyms See deadly.
  • So as to resemble a dead person, or death.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adverb Deadly.
  • adjective Deadly; fatal; mortal; destructive.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Appearing as though dead, or on the verge of death.
  • adjective Fatal, causing death.
  • adjective Extreme.
  • adverb With reference to death.
  • adverb Extremely, dreadfully.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb to a degree resembling death
  • adjective causing or capable of causing death
  • adjective having the physical appearance of death

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Any sense of trepidation surrounding Haneke’s vision of a post-apocalyptic existence is heightened by his movie’s title sequence, which unfolds in deathly silence, white words on a black screen, and lasts for what seems like an eternity.

    Current Movie Reviews, Independent Movies - Film Threat 2004

  • The following morning, he recalls the deathly silence that consumed New York City, "as if saying something would have been disrespectful to the 2,500 people or so who died."

    Michael Smerconish: The Face of Sept 11, 2001 2008

  • "So I noticed," Dundee nodded, recalling the deathly pallor of the girl's face as Sprague had glibly explained away that damning note and all its implications.

    Murder at Bridge Anne Austin

  • So it ` s a defense mechanism, what he ` s doing, and he ` s telling the press that the children are deathly terrorized, and that word "deathly" says a lot.

    CNN Transcript Nov 9, 2007 2007

  • There are one hundred fifty-one children in some kind of deathly stupor, all stacked up in coffins within the ship.

    A Fire Upon the Deep Vinge, Vernor 1992

  • Lloyd said he started kayaking partly to beat a "deathly" fear of the water.

    News RSS 2010

  • By half past 10, when the president finally shuffled on to the stage, a deathly hush swept the square.

    Egypt's day of rumour and expectation ends in anger and confusion 2011

  • The real presence of Christ in the Eucharist is a magnet drawing lost sheep home and keeping would-be strays from the deathly snows outside.

    Protestantism 2009

  • The real presence of Christ in the Eucharist is a magnet drawing lost sheep home and keeping would-be strays from the deathly snows outside.

    Liturgy 2009

  • And although I'm deathly afraid of what will happen to our Habitat Club when you're gone, and I'm also frustrated that my sister won't have to suffer through all the beautiful misery that I went through of last year, I feel, most of all, pity for the incoming freshmen, because they really will have no idea what they missed out on.

    Grace Li: A Teacher, An Inspiration Grace Li 2011

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