catatonic
adjective
cat·a·ton·ic
ˌka-tə-ˈtä-nik 
1
: of, relating to, marked by, or affected with catatonia
catatonic schizophrenia
2
: characterized by a marked lack of movement, activity, or expression
tourists who were almost catatonic at finding themselves in their hero's presence—
Neil Hickey
Neil Hickey
catatonic
noun
Examples of catatonic in a Sentence
a catatonic stare was all that the neglected resident of the nursing home seemed capable of
Recent Examples on the Web
Winter Passing focuses on Reese (Zooey Deschanel), a struggling New York actress who heads to Michigan to reunite with her distant, brilliant, nearly catatonic author father (Ed Harris).
—Tim Grierson, Vulture, 4 Feb. 2025
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
This sends her into a near catatonic state, and she is soothed by Judith, who calms her down.
—Manuel Betancourt, Vulture, 19 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for catatonic
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Tim Grierson, Vulture, 4 Feb. 2025
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
This sends her into a near catatonic state, and she is soothed by Judith, who calms her down.
—Manuel Betancourt, Vulture, 19 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for catatonic
Cite this Entry
“Catatonic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/catatonic. Accessed 2 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
catatonic
1 of 2 adjective
cata·ton·ic
ˌkat-ə-ˈtän-ik
: of, relating to, marked by, or affected with catatonia
catatonic schizophrenia
catatonic rigidity
catatonic patients
catatonic
2 of 2 noun
: a catatonic individual
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share