FLATLINES Synonyms: 46 Similar and Opposite Words

flatlines

verb

present tense third-person singular of flatline

as in dies

to stop living the patient was fading fast, and doctors expected him to flatline before the night was over

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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 flatlines Leaders become the bottleneck, the team defaults to the law of least effort, and performance flatlines. — Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 28 May 2026 However, in practice, the drama of this World War II spy saga seldom lives up to the filmmaker’s lofty aesthetic goals, resulting in a tale of torture and human fragility that flatlines long before its central martyr. — Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 17 May 2026 Take women out of the equation, and middle-class income essentially flatlines for four decades. — Katica Roy, Fortune, 21 Apr. 2026 Every time the plot hits the reset button, the tension flatlines. — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for flatlines

Verb

First, when someone dies without a will, their property passes to heirs in accordance with their state’s laws.

— Naomi Cahn, The Conversation, 29 July 2026
The general rule is that when an IRA beneficiary is an entity instead of an individual, the IRA must be distributed fully within five years after the original owner dies.

— Bob Carlson, Forbes.com, 27 July 2026

Definition of dies

Verb

That way if one of its holdings falls, the others are positioned to take up the slack, provided the economy is strong.

— Michael Foster, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026
The impact falls disproportionately on women, who have left the workforce in droves, according to Challenger, Gray and Christmas.

— Medora Lee, USA Today, 3 Aug. 2026

Definition of falls

Verb

In The Children, sister and brother Guinevere and Ennis grow up under the shadow of their mother, Edith Sharpe, whose Ninth City children’s book series transfixes the world until Edith perishes in a mysterious fire in Vermont.

— Hamilton Cain, Time, 7 July 2026
Every soldier Harry would have saved on a transport during the war perishes too.

— Margaret Heidenry, Vanity Fair, 24 Dec. 2025

Definition of perishes

Verb

When Mina’s closest friend Lucy succumbs to his thrall, the enigmatic Professor Van Helsing is summoned to wage war on this unfathomable threat.

— Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 22 July 2026
If someone succumbs to the heat, promptly relocate them to a cool, shaded location.

— Bay Area Weather Report, Mercury News, 13 July 2026

Definition of succumbs

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flatlined

flatlines

flatlining

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“Flatlines.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flatlines. Accessed 5 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of flatlines

verb

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