Dictionary

zombie en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈzɒmbi/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Australia) audio
• /ˈzɑmbi/ (General-American)
• zŏmʹbē (General-American)

Etymology

First attested in the 18th century. Partially through Louisiana Creole zombi (“zombie; ghost”), Haitian Creole zonbi (“zombie”), and French zombi (“zombie”). Ultimately from a Bantu language. Compare Kongo nzambi (“god”), zumbi (“fetish”), and Kimbundu nzumbi (“ghost”) (see Portuguese zumbi, Sranan Tongo dyumbi), and Caribbean folklore's jumbie (“a spirit or demon”).

Meanings

1. (qualifier:voodoo) A person, usually undead, animated by unnatural forces (such as magic), with no soul or will of his or her own, typically being slow, obedient, and harmless unless directed to be harmful.
   • Betsy Connell: I don't know about zombies, doctor. Just what is a zombie? / Dr. Maxwell: A ghost. A living dead. It's also a drink. 1943, Curt Siodmak, Ardel Wray, I Walked with a Zombie (motion picture):
   • The rumour had started that he was the Zombie or living corpse of Baron Samedi himself, the dreaded Prince of Darkness, and he fostered the story so that now it was accepted through all the lower strata of the negro world. 1954, Ian Fleming, “A Visiting-Card”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 21:
   • The zombies were having fun The party had just begun The guests included Wolf-Man, Dracula, and his son. 1962, “Monster Mash”, Bobby "Boris" Pickett and Lenny Capizzi (lyrics), performed by Bobby (Boris) Pickett and The Crypt-Kickers:
2. (qualifier:horror) A dead person, reanimated through some fictional agency as a fungus, virus, or the like, that has an insatiable desire to eat living humans, typically depicted as aggressive, fast moving, and infectious.
   • The zombies first show up 20 minutes in, after Melanie volunteers herself as the next child to mysteriously disappear in the middle of the night. That’s when we learn that Melanie and her classmates are all “hungries,” or people infected with a toxic fungus that turns them into mindless flesh-eating animals. 2017 February 23, Katie Rife, “The Girl With All The Gifts tries to put a fresh spin on overripe zombie clichés”, in The Onion AV Club:
   • Ashley: Dad passed on a few years back. He's probably still watching, though. Shepard: He's not a zombie, is he? 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: SSV Normandy:
3. (figuratively) An apathetic or slow-witted person.
4. (figuratively) A human being in a state of extreme mental exhaustion.
   • After working for 18 hours on the computer, I was a zombie.
5. (figuratively) Someone or something that should be dead but is not.
   • I would advise anyone who does not share its politics — surely the great majority of gay men and lesbians — to shun NOLAG for the anachronistic zombie it is. 1982 February 13, Wayne Dynes, “Unnatural”, in Gay Community News, volume 9, number 29, page 4:
6. An information worker who has signed a nondisclosure agreement.
7. A process or task which has terminated but has not been removed from the list of processes, typically because it has an unresponsive parent process.
   • 1986, Maurice J. Bach, The Design of the Unix Operating System, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, USA, See "Process States and Transitions," p. 147. 9. The process executed the exit system call and is in the zombie state. The process no longer exists, but it leaves a record containing an exit code and some timing statistics for its parent process to collect. The zombie state is the final state of a process.
8. A computer affected by malware which causes it to do whatever the attacker wants it to do without the user's knowledge.
9. A cocktail of rum and fruit juices.
   • Betsy Connell: I don't know about zombies, doctor. Just what is a zombie? / Dr. Maxwell: A ghost. A living dead. It's also a drink. 1943, Curt Siodmak, Ardel Wray, I Walked with a Zombie (motion picture):
   • She takes the taxi to the good hotel / Bon marché as far as she can tell / She drinks the zombie from the cocoa shell 1976, Walter Becker, Donald Fagen, “Haitian Divorce”, in The Royal Scam, performed by Steely Dan:
   • The maitre d’ introduced us and I had a zombie with him. Those zombies are wicked. […] I watched Mario and drank zombies out of a thermos. 1976, Harvard Advocate CX:ii, pages 8 and 380
10. (Canada, derogatory, historical) A conscripted member of the Canadian military during World War II who was assigned to home defence rather than to combat in Europe.
    • 1944, "Time for Decision," Time (US edition), 6 Nov., Had the time come to order Canada's home defense draftees—some 70,000 zombies idling at home—to battle overseas?
11. (Australia, slang) Marijuana, or similar drugs.
    • Traveling in a fried-out Kombi / On a hippie trail, head full of zombie 1980, Colin Hay, Ron Strykert, “Down Under”, performed by Men at Work:
12. A hypothetical being that is indistinguishable from a normal human being except in that it lacks conscious experience, qualia, or sentience.
13. (slang) A person whose senses and faculties are severely dulled by drug use.
    • I'm worried about that guy on the corner, he is a fent zombie.
14. (Philippines, slang) A person with a big appetite.

Forms

Deriveds

zombiephile · zombieproof · zombie deer disease · zombie urbanism · zombie car · zombie mortgage · zombie star · zombify · zombie version · zombie system · zombitude · zombie lie · zombie bank · zombic · zombie out · xanbie · zombology · zombie theory · zombiehood · zombie state · zombie statistic · zombie banker · zombie box · zombie user · zombie debt · dezombify · zombiism · zombiefy · zombiephilia · zombie apocalypse · zimbo · zombie world · zombie fungus · smartphone zombie · zompire · zombie process · zombically · zombie fire · zombielike · zombie company · zombie host · zombie program · zombie thought experiment · zombie knife · zomedy · zombie strip · zomboid · zombie tag · zombie worm · zombie taxon · antizombie · Sonbie · zombie government · zombie crawl · zombiesque · zombie organization · zombie cell · phone zombie · zombie master · zombie path · zombie institution · mombie · dezombification · zombie business · zombiedom · zombie finger · zombieless · zombocalypse · zombiekind · zombie network · zombie debtor · zombieness · zombie computer · zombie dance · zombie client · zombie formalism · zombyish · zombie effect · Aberzombie · zombie hypothesis · Zombie Simpsons · zombieing · zombied-out · zombie software · zombie S&L · zombie economy · zombie walk · zombification · zombied

Synonyms

buddha · endo · pot · hashish · bud · choof · Mary Joanna · marijuana · zombie · broccoli · boo · intellectual prostitute · herb · bhang · shit · hash · sens · puff · trees · walker · cannabis · zed · zaza · hemp · doobage · mull · ganja · mezz · green · sweetleaf · Mary Jane · living dead · gage · doja · greenery · yarndie · p-zombie · method · dope · wacky tobaccy · sensimillia · devil's lettuce · benj · grass · marihoochie · MJ · dank · ganj · cheeba · twig · philosophical zombie · daccha · muggle · walking dead · tea · weed · Texas tea · djamba · deadhead · reefer · sensimilla

Translations (84)

pt zumbi (the undead) · ru зо́мби (the undead) · bo རོ་ལངས (the undead) · tr hortlak (the undead) · it zombi (the undead) · mi poheraka (the undead) · vi thây ma (the undead) · th ซอมบี (the undead) · eo sorĉkadavro (the undead) · ur زمبی (the undead) · tl buhay na bangkay (the undead) · acw زومبي (the undead) · ko 좀비 (the undead) · kw zombi (the undead) · hu zombi (the undead) · tl sombi (the undead) · nv daaztsánée yigáłígíí (the undead) · eo zombio (the undead) · az xortlaq (the undead) · mk зо́мби (the undead) · pl zombie (the undead) · cy sombi (the undead) · hy զոմբի (the undead) · da zombie (the undead) · br zombi (the undead) · cmn 僵屍 /僵尸 or 殭屍 /僵尸 (the undead) · kmr zombî (the undead) · ceb amaranhig (the undead) · gl zombi (the undead) · de Zombie (the undead) · fr zombi (the undead) · uk зо́мбі (the undead) · pt zombie (the undead) · cs zombie (the undead) · ceb sombi (the undead) · ht zonbi (the undead) · tl amalanhig (the undead) · ur زندہ لاش (the undead) · vi zom-bi (the undead) · fi zombie (the undead) · sk zombie (the undead) · ar المَيِّت الحَيّ (the undead) · nb zombie (the undead) · af zombie (the undead) · id zombi (the undead) · pl zombiak (the undead) · sk zombík (the undead) · tl patay na buhay (the undead) · el ζόμπι (the undead) · vi zom-by (the undead) · ja ゾンビ (the undead) · sv zombie (the undead) · fa زنده لاش (the undead) · ca zombi (the undead) · st sethotsela (the undead) · ar زُومْبِي (the undead) · is uppvakningur (the undead) · eu zonbi (the undead) · es zombie (the undead) · th ผีดิบ (the undead) · tr zombi (the undead) · es zombi (the undead) · ka ზომბი (the undead) · nl zombie (the undead) · bg зомби (the undead) · sk zombia (the undead) · hi जोम्बी (the undead) · mr जॉम्बी (the undead) · cmn 喪屍 /丧尸 (the undead) · cs zombík (the undead) · az zombi (the undead) · fr zombie (the undead) · fi zombi (the undead) · ms zombi (the undead) · he זוֹמְבִּי (the undead) · fa زامبی (the undead) · pt morto-vivo (the undead) · sk zombi (the undead) · pl zombi (the undead) · lt zombis (the undead) · ro zombi (the undead) · ckb زۆمبی (the undead) · az xortdan (the undead) · ga zombaí (the undead)