Supine

Quick meaning: Supine is an adjective meaning Lying on its back.

Meaning

Lying on its back.

More Meanings

1. (figuratively) Reluctant to take action due to indifference or moral weakness; apathetic or passive towards something.
2. (of the hand, forearm or foot) Turned facing toward the body or upward: with the thumb outward (palm up), or with the big toe raised relative to the little toe.
3. (grammar, also attributively) In Latin and other languages: a type of verbal noun used in the ablative and accusative cases, which shares the same stem as the passive participle.
4. (grammar, also attributively) In Swedish, Faroese, Icelandic and Old Norse: a verb form that combines with an inflection of ha/hafa/hava to form the present perfect and pluperfect tenses.
5. (grammar, also attributively) (obsolete terminology) The 'to'-prefixed infinitive in English or other Germanic languages, so named because the infinitive was regarded as a verbal noun and the 'to'-prefixed form of it was seen as the dative form of the verbal noun; the full infinitive.
6. (rare, now poetic) Inclining or leaning backward; inclined, sloping.

Example Sentences

Such corruption is commonplace in a world of supine civil servants and underfunded ministries.

Poor Pnin had come down the last steps on his back. He lay supine for a moment, his eyes moving to and fro.

when one is washing one’s face, the hand is in the supine position; and then the forearm is also in the supine position; when the foot is resting on the outer side of the sole, it is in the supine position

[W]hen Man was fallen, and had abandoned his primitive Innocence, [...] he became puſillanimous, and was eaſily ruffled with every little Paſſion within: ſupine, and as openly expoſed to any Temptation or Aſſault from without.

Word Forms

• supines

Synonyms for supine

Depending on context, synonyms include reclined, passive, peaceful, lazy, lethargic, listless.

Antonyms for supine

Common opposites include prone, prostrate.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include resupine, passive, inactive, unresisting, resistless, sluggish.

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