Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Completely and unquestionably dead; having no life whatsoever: The term "stone-dead" emphasizes a state of absolute death, with no possibility of life, as lifeless as an inanimate stone. It is often used for dramatic or emphatic effect.

Usage

• "Stone-dead" is used attributively (before a noun) or predicatively (after a linking verb like 'was' or 'lay'). It is a strong, informal adjective that stresses finality.
• It is typically applied to living creatures, especially animals or people, but can be used metaphorically.

Examples

• The hunter checked the wolf; it was stone-dead.
• By the time we found the injured bird, it was already stone-dead.
• He fired a single shot, and the target fell stone-dead.

Advanced Usage

• Metaphorical Use: Can describe something that has ceased completely and irrevocably, such as an idea, a project, or a tradition.
  • After the scandal, his political career was stone-dead.
  • The old custom is now stone-dead and forgotten.

Variants and Related Words

• Stone-cold (adj): Often used similarly in "stone-cold dead" for added emphasis.
  • They discovered the body, stone-cold dead.
• Deader than a doornail (idiom): A synonymous informal idiom emphasizing absolute death.

Synonyms

• Lifeless
• Deceased
• Defunct (more formal, often for things or organizations)

Related Idioms

• Dead as a doornail: Completely dead. (A very common synonym for "stone-dead").
  • The battery is dead as a doornail.
• Dead and gone: Long dead and buried.
  • That old theory is dead and gone.

Adjective

1. as lifeless as a stone