Zombie

How to spell zombie

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce zombie

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does zombie mean?

1. nounA dead body brought back to a state of mindless, animated life, especially in horror fiction.
2. nounA person who is so tired or dazed that they seem to act without awareness.

Zombie in a sentence

• The film opened with a single zombie stumbling through the abandoned town.

• After working three night shifts in a row, she felt like a zombie at her desk.

• He painted his face grey and dressed as a zombie for the costume party.

• With the newborn keeping them awake, each parent wandered the house like a zombie.

Where does zombie come from?

Language of origin: Other

The word comes from West African languages, most likely the Kongo terms nzambi, meaning 'god' or 'spirit', and zumbi, a fetish or animated corpse. It travelled with enslaved Africans into the Caribbean, where Haitian Creole zonbi described a dead body reanimated and controlled through Vodou practice. English picked it up in the early nineteenth century, often spelled 'zombi', through writings about Haiti and the American South, and the modern -ie spelling settled in over time. The hugely popular horror films of the twentieth century reshaped the meaning into the shambling, flesh-seeking undead figure most people now picture, and from there it broadened into casual senses such as a person who is utterly exhausted or a tall rum cocktail. The unusual spelling, with its leading 'z' and final '-ie', reflects how far the word has travelled from its African origins.

How the word is built

• zombi (West African/Kongo root)
• -e (English spelling ending)