CADAVEROUS Synonyms: 90 Similar and Opposite Words

cadaverous

adjective

kə-ˈdav-rəs

Definition of cadaverous

as in pallid

lacking a healthy skin color everyone always looks cadaverous in the winter

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in gaunt

suffering extreme weight loss as a result of hunger or disease a cadaverous cancer patient living out his final days with dignity and courage

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of cadaverous Die große Nacht im Eimer (The Big Night Down the Drain), made that year, depicts a figure of indiscernible age with a cadaverous pallor and yellow splotches, brandishing an oversized phallus beneath a soot-black veil. — Tessa Solomon, ARTnews.com, 30 Apr. 2026 As the hulking creature, the Australian star appears to have pale, cadaverous skin with lacerations across it and long, stringy hair. — Jack Smart, PEOPLE, 24 Oct. 2025 Plus, the kid isn’t dead either, as his flailing pale self that looks on the verge of the cadaverous pops out of the trunk Jack shoves him in. — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 1 Sep. 2024 Moreover, keeping the cadaverous Biden in the White House is a daily reminder to the American people of the feebleness and anemia of the Democratic Party, which taints Harris by association. — Armstrong Williams, Baltimore Sun, 23 July 2024 Concluding that the medical students and obstetricians were causing puerperal fever in their pregnant patients by infecting them with cadaverous particles on their hands, Semmelweis instituted some harsh protocols. — Sabrina Sholts, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Mar. 2024 Looking at that picture, the back of Biden's neck looks cadaverous. — Charles C. W. Cooke, National Review, 30 Oct. 2023 Then those cadaverous mistakes are doing them in and losing games. — Sportsday Staff, Dallas News, 25 May 2023 Or the way that Morticia, voiced by Charlize Theron in the most musical of aristocratic purrs, doesn’t just walk but glides around in her cadaverous skin-tight dress that drapes over the floor in trails that look like black silk octopus legs. — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 1 Oct. 2021

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cadaverous

Adjective

Young people in particular have soured on the technology over the last year, a development that may at least partially be explained by a pallid entry-level job market.

— T.M. Brown, CNN Money, 17 Aug. 2026
This mordant melange takes off from the opening sequence, when Niaz finds himself at a casting call for an indie directed by Aza (Elene Mausuradze), an androgynous female director with the pallid look of a Tim Burton extra.

— Beatrice Loayza, Variety, 17 Aug. 2026

Definition of pallid

Adjective

As her pregnancy progressed, Kabita’s belly swelled while the rest of her remained gaunt.

— ABC News, ABC News, 13 Aug. 2026
On the first day of the hearing, July 22, Salah Sarsour's brother, Mohammad Sarsour, testified that his brother appeared gaunt and dirty and complained of pain and inadequate medical care during his detention in an Israeli jail.

— CBS News, CBS News, 5 Aug. 2026

Definition of gaunt

Adjective

The open-plan four-bedroom features polished concrete floors, built-ins with pale wood, and windows placed to maximize energy efficiency.

— The Week US, TheWeek, 23 Aug. 2026
The interiors are just as blissful, with terra-cotta walls and smooth, wooden floor-to-ceiling wardrobes adding warmth to pale stone floors and marble bathrooms.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Aug. 2026

Definition of pale

Adjective

Xbox, despite its increasingly haggard reputation, has announced backwards compatibility for PC.

— Mitch Wallace, Forbes.com, 23 July 2026
Rocking back and forth nervously during a television appearance, a haggard-looking Diaz-Canel acknowledged the same talks, which his government had denied were taking place just days before.

— Patrick Oppmann, CNN Money, 22 Mar. 2026

Definition of haggard

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“Cadaverous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cadaverous. Accessed 31 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of cadaverous

adjective

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