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Dead vs Humdrum - What's the difference?

dead | humdrum | Related terms |

As adjectives the difference between dead and humdrum

is that dead is no longer living while humdrum is lacking variety or excitement; dull; boring.

As nouns the difference between dead and humdrum

is that dead is (time when coldness, darkness, or stillness is most intense) Time when coldness, darkness, or stillness is most intense while humdrum is the quality of lacking variety or excitement; dullness.

As an adverb dead

is exactly right.

As a verb dead

is formerly, "be dead" was used instead of "have died" as the perfect tense of "die".

dead

English

Adjective

(er)
  • (not comparable) No longer living.
  • All of my grandparents are dead .
  • (hyperbole) Figuratively, not alive; lacking life
  • * 1600 , (William Shakespeare), (As You Like It) , Act III, Scene 3:
  • When a man's verses cannot be understood, nor a man's good wit seconded with the forward child, understanding, it strikes a man more dead than a great reckoning in a little room.
  • (of another person) So hated that they are absolutely ignored.
  • He is dead to me.
  • Without emotion.
  • She stood with dead face and limp arms, unresponsive to my plea.
  • Stationary; static.
  • the dead''' load on the floor''; ''a '''dead lift .
  • Without interest to one of the senses; dull; flat.
  • dead''' air''; ''a '''dead glass of soda .
  • Unproductive.
  • dead''' time''; '''''dead fields ; also in compounds.
  • Completely inactive; without power; without a signal.
  • OK, the circuit's dead . Go ahead and cut the wire.
    Now that the motor's dead you can reach in and extract the spark plugs.
  • (not comparable) Broken or inoperable.
  • That monitor is dead ; don’t bother hooking it up.
  • (not comparable) No longer used or required.
  • There are several dead laws still on the books regulating where horses may be hitched.
    Is this beer glass dead ?
  • (not comparable, sports) Not in play.
  • Once the ball crosses the foul line, it's dead .
  • Tagged out.
  • (not comparable) Full and complete.
  • dead''' stop''; '''''dead''' sleep''; '''''dead''' giveaway''; '''''dead silence
  • (not comparable) Exact.
  • dead''' center''; '''''dead''' aim''; ''a '''dead''' eye''; ''a '''dead level
  • Experiencing pins and needles (paresthesia).
  • After sitting on my hands for a while, my arms became dead .
  • (informal) (Certain to be) in big trouble.
  • "You come back here this instant! Oh, when I get my hands on you, you're dead , mister!"
  • Constructed so as not to transmit sound; soundless.
  • a dead floor
  • (obsolete) Bringing death; deadly.
  • (Shakespeare)
  • (legal) Cut off from the rights of a citizen; deprived of the power of enjoying the rights of property.
  • A person who is banished or who becomes a monk is civilly dead .
  • (engineering) Not imparting motion or power.
  • the dead spindle of a lathe

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Antonyms

    * alive * living

    Adverb

    (-)
  • (lb) Exactly right.
  • dead''' right''; '''''dead''' level''; '''''dead''' flat''; '''''dead''' straight''; '''''dead left
    He hit the target dead in the centre.
  • (lb) Very, absolutely, extremely, suddenly.
  • dead''' wrong''; '''''dead''' set''; '''''dead''' serious''; '''''dead''' drunk''; '''''dead''' broke''; '''''dead''' earnest''; '''''dead''' certain''; '''''dead''' slow''; '''''dead''' sure''; '''''dead''' simple''; '''''dead''' honest''; '''''dead''' accurate''; '''''dead''' easy''; '''''dead''' scared''; '''''dead''' solid''; '''''dead''' black''; '''''dead''' white''; '''''dead empty ;
  • As if dead.
  • dead''' tired''; '''''dead''' quiet''; '''''dead''' asleep''; '''''dead''' pale''; '''''dead''' cold''; '''''dead still
  • * (and other bibliographic particulars) (Charles Dickens)
  • I was tired of reading, and dead sleepy.

    Noun

    (dead)
  • (in the singular) Time when coldness, darkness, or stillness is most intense.
  • The dead''' of night.'' ''The '''dead of winter.
  • (in the plural) Those who have died.
  • Have respect for the dead .

    Synonyms

    * (those who have died) the deceased

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (archaic) Formerly, "be dead" was used instead of "have died" as the perfect tense of "die".
  • "I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead [????????] in vain." Galatians 2:21, King James Version (1611).
  • To prevent by disabling; stop.
  • * 1826 , The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Edward Reynolds, Lord Bishop of Norwich , collected by Edward Reynolds, Benedict Riveley, and Alexander Chalmers. pp. 227. London: B. Holdsworth.
  • “What a man should do, when finds his natural impotency dead him in spiritual works”
  • To make dead; to deaden; to deprive of life, force, or vigour.
  • * Chapman
  • Heaven's stern decree, / With many an ill, hath numbed and deaded me.
  • (UK, transitive, slang) To kill.
  • * 2006 , Leighanne Boyd, Once Upon A Time In The Bricks (page 178)
  • This dude at the club was trying to kill us so I deaded him, and then I had to collect from Spice.
  • * 2008 , Marvlous Harrison, The Coalition (page 106)
  • “What, you was just gonna dead him because if that's the case then why the fuck we getting the money?” Sha asked annoyed.

    Derived terms

    * better dead than red * brain dead/brain-dead * clinically dead * dead air * dead as a dodo * dead as a doorknob * dead as a doornail * dead ball * dead bat * deadbeat * dead body * dead-born/deadborn * dead cat bounce * dead center * dead code * dead donkey * dead duck * dead end * dead giveaway * deadhead * dead heat * dead horse * dead ice * dead-in-shell * dead in the water * dead language * dead last * dead leg * dead letter * deadline/dead line * dead link * deadlock * dead man/dead man's hand * dead march * dead marine * dead meat * dead men * dead metaphor * deadnettle * dead on * dead or alive * deadpan * dead president * dead reckoning * dead rubber * Dead Sea * dead serious * dead set against * dead soldier * dead space * dead sticking * dead to the world * dead tree * dead water * dead weight * deadwood * dead zone * drop dead * * leave for dead * living dead * not be caught dead * over my dead body * play dead * stop dead

    Statistics

    *

    humdrum

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Lacking variety or excitement; dull; boring.
  • Noun

    (-)
  • The quality of lacking variety or excitement; dullness.
  • * 2010 ,
  • I think it helped distract us from the dry, humdrum , and heat of the here and now.

    Synonyms

    * See also