adj. 1
No longer living; deceased. (Also used as a noun.)
Have respect for the dead.
adj. 2
Devoid of living things; barren.
adv. 1
Exactly.
He hit the target dead in the centre.
adv. 2
Very, absolutely, extremely.
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

Related words

Word family: death dead-alive dead-and-alive deadass deadfall deadhead deadlike deadline
Phrases: dead tired cut someone dead dead-end dead ringer dead inside dead reckoning dead duck dead man's hand

Choose the right word

or Dead?

In a moral sense, lifeless denotes a want of vital energy; inanimate, a want of expression as to any feeling that may be possessed; dull implies a torpor of soul which checks all mental activity; dead supposes a destitution of feeling.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Example sentences

gone You shouldn't have gone to such a dangerous place.
deceased The Emperor prayed for the souls of the deceased.
crying This puppy is crying because it misses its mother.
fallen A fallen leaf floated on the surface of the water.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
dead		rising
gone		rising
deceased		falling
crying		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: out¹
4 letters: late¹, gone¹, beat¹, cold¹, numb¹
5 letters: still¹, short¹, tired², inert²
6 letters: entire³, crying², asleep², fallen², bushed
7 letters: precise², utterly³, drained¹, defunct², deathly²
8 letters: standing², directly³, suddenly³, deceased², departed³, abruptly³, lifeless², anechoic
9 letters: perfectly³, inanimate⁴
10 letters: absolutely⁴, breathless²
11 letters: unconscious³, insensitive⁴, nonresonant

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (tired² = 2 syllables).