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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

brain-dead en · ADJ

Pronunciation

  • /ˈbɹeɪnˌdɛd/
  • (US) audio

Etymology

From brain + dead. Coined by the Harvard physician Henry K. Beecher in the historical context of the Sixties counterculture and life extension technology of the late twentieth century.

Meanings

  1. (not-comparable) Having an irreversible loss of brain function and cessation of brain activity.
    • An employee of the mayor's office was declared brain-dead on Sunday morning after she and another woman were struck by a hit-and-run driver while crossing Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, the authorities said. 2010 February 22, Michael S. Schmidt, Karen Zraick, “Hit and Run in Brooklyn Leaves One Brain-Dead”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
  2. (colloquial, derogatory) Having no useful thoughts; stupid; ditzy.
    • "AI has been brain-dead since the 1970s," said AI guru Marvin Minsky in a recent speech at Boston University. Minsky co-founded the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in 1959 with John McCarthy. 2003 May 13, Mark Baard, quoting Marvin Minsky, “AI Founder Blasts Modern Research”, in Wired, →ISSN:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
braindead alternative lexicographic
brain dead alternative lexicographic
most brain-dead Degree=Sup lexicographic
more brain-dead Degree=Cmp lexicographic

Translations (30)

nb hjernedød (in medicine: having irreversible cessation of brain activity) · nn hjernedød (colloquially: having no useful thoughts) · fi järjetön (colloquially: having no useful thoughts) · it cerebroleso (colloquially: having no useful thoughts) · da hjernedød (in medicine: having irreversible cessation of brain activity) · sv hjärndöd (colloquially: having no useful thoughts) · es muerto cerebral (colloquially: having no useful thoughts) · fr en état de mort cérébrale (in medicine: having irreversible cessation of brain activity) · nb hjernedød (colloquially: having no useful thoughts) · nn hjernedaud (in medicine: having irreversible cessation of brain activity) · hu agyhalott (in medicine: having irreversible cessation of brain activity) · es descerebrado (colloquially: having no useful thoughts) · es muerto cerebral (in medicine: having irreversible cessation of brain activity) · pt com morte cerebral (in medicine: having irreversible cessation of brain activity) · fi älyvapaa (colloquially: having no useful thoughts) · fi aivokuollut (in medicine: having irreversible cessation of brain activity) · da åndssvag (colloquially: having no useful thoughts) · sv hjärndöd (in medicine: having irreversible cessation of brain activity) · pl w stanie śmierci mózgu (in medicine: having irreversible cessation of brain activity) · nn hjernedaud (colloquially: having no useful thoughts) · pt cerebralmente morto (in medicine: having irreversible cessation of brain activity) · da hjernedød (colloquially: having no useful thoughts) · pt descerebrado (colloquially: having no useful thoughts) · af breindood (in medicine: having irreversible cessation of brain activity) · nl hersendood (in medicine: having irreversible cessation of brain activity) · de hirntot (in medicine: having irreversible cessation of brain activity) · fi aivoton (colloquially: having no useful thoughts) · nn hjernedød (in medicine: having irreversible cessation of brain activity) · it testa vuota (colloquially: having no useful thoughts) · cmn 脑残 (colloquially: having no useful thoughts)

brain-dead en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /ˈbɹeɪnˌdɛd/
  • (US) audio

Etymology

From brain + dead. Coined by the Harvard physician Henry K. Beecher in the historical context of the Sixties counterculture and life extension technology of the late twentieth century.

Meanings

  1. (derogatory, informal) An unintelligent person.
    • "What makes you different from all the other brain-deads that come through here?" 2015 October 6, Sarah J. Schmitt, It's a Wonderful Death, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
brain-deads Number=Plur lexicographic
braindead alternative lexicographic
brain dead alternative lexicographic

Relateds

brain death · comatose · vegetative · dain-bread