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.

Humans have a tendency to anthropomorphize animals and even inanimate objects, says Ayanna Howard, dean of Ohio State University’s College of Engineering and a roboticist who has researched why humans blindly trust machines.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026

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

That’s to say, where rivers are recognised as alive, enlivening presences in story, art and law, rather than –– as Isaac Newton put it –– ‘brute inanimate matter’.

From Salon • May 28, 2025

The power of the waltz here is how it humanizes the space station as it’s about to be taken over by an inanimate AI, namely the computer called HAL.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 31, 2024

I can send them into others’ work, even enliven some inanimate objects, and once that’s done, the results are brilliant.

From "Shadowshaper" by Daniel José Older