inanimate

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Rice cakes join a long list of inanimate objects that time-poor young Chinese have jokingly adopted for low-maintenance companionship in recent years, ranging from mango pits, to rocks, to cardboard dogs.

From Barron's • Feb. 5, 2026

He amassed around 3,000 inanimate objects, which he started collecting after his father’s death.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 24, 2025

Driven or driverless, the car is the most animated of inanimate objects, sometimes literally a cartoon, with a voice, a personality, a name.

From Los Angeles Times • May 16, 2025

Tom Ogden wrote an indie-pop anthem about the incident, then dedicated their fifth album to the unfortunate inanimate ape.

From BBC • Nov. 17, 2024

Somewhere in all this, it was thought, there also resided a mysterious élan vital, the force that brought inanimate objects to life.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson