A living thing or person that stops living is dead. The opposite of "dead" is "alive."
The man is no longer alive. He’s dead.
There’s a dead crow in my front yard.
A cemetery is full of people who are dead.
You should be respectful of the dead. (In this sentence, "dead" is a noun.)
The police found a dead body inside the apartment. The person had been dead for several days.
This word is very popular when describing a person’s condition. If someone is tired or in trouble, or if a thing is not working, you can use this adjective.
My car’s dead. (It doesn’t work.)
The battery in my phone is dead.
Traffic came to a dead stop. (It stopped moving.)
I’m dead tired.
We’re dead if we don’t get this assignment done on time.
Uh oh. You’re dead. (You’re in trouble.)
The word "deadly" is an adverb, but it’s also an adjective. A thing that’s deadly causes death.
The young woman drank a deadly poison.
He’s deadly serious about his work.
Two teenage girls were involved in a deadly car crash over the weekend.
There are a few other ways of using the word "dead."
A deadline is the time when something must be finished. You can’t go past a deadline.
A dead end is the end of a road. You can’t continue because of an obstacle or there’s no more pavement.
A dead end is also a situation in which a person can’t move forward or improve. When you’ve reached a dead end, you have to do something different.
Law enforcement officials often say they want to capture a dangerous suspect dead or alive.
Nocturnal animals come out in the dead of night. (the dead of night = the middle of the night when it’s very dark and very quiet)
