Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Supine
1.
Lying on the back, or with the face upward; – opposed to
prone
. 2.
Leaning backward, or inclining with exposure to the sun; sloping; inclined.
If the vine
On rising ground be placed, or hills
On rising ground be placed, or hills
supine
. Dryden.
3.
Negligent; heedless; indolent; listless.
He became pusillanimous and
supine
, and openly exposed to any temptation. Woodward.
Syn. – Negligent; heedless; indolent; thoughtless; inattentive; listless; careless; drowsy.
– Su-pine′ly
, adv.
Su-pine′ness
, Noun.
Su′pine
(sū′pīn)
, Noun.
[L.
supinum
(sc. verbum
), from supinus
bent or thrown backward, perhaps so called because, although furnished with substantive case endings, it rests or falls back, as it were, on the verb: cf. F. supin
.] (Lat. Gram.)
A verbal noun; or (according to C.F.Becker), a case of the infinitive mood ending in -um and -u, that in -um being sometimes called the former supine, and that in -u the latter supine.
Webster 1828 Edition
Supine
SUPI'NE
,Adj.
1.
Leaning backward; or inclining with exposure to the sun. If the vine
On rising ground be plac'd on hills supine--
2.
Negligent; heedless; indolent; thoughtless; inattentive. He became pusillanimous and supine, and openly exposed to any temptation.
These men suffer by their supine credulity.
Definition 2024
supine
supine
English
Adjective
supine (comparative more supine, superlative most supine)
- Lying on its back, reclined
- 2011 December 15, Felicity Cloake, “How to cook the perfect nut roast”, in Guardian:
- Christmas queen Mary Berry's aubergine five-nut roast, from her Christmas Collection, is, as the name suggests, rather more focused on the nut side of things. Breadcrumbs play second fiddle to a medley of almonds, Brazils, chestnuts, pine nuts and pistachios which, although tangy with lemon juice and garlic, is outrageously dense. A single slice of this could leave you supine in front of the Queen's speech without even the wherewithal to reach for the remote control.
-
- Leaning backward, or inclining with exposure to the sun; sloping; inclined.
- Dryden
- If the vine / On rising ground be placed, or hills supine.
- Dryden
- Negligent; heedless; listless; lethargic; indifferent.
- Woodward
- He became pusillanimous and supine, and openly exposed to any temptation.
- 1788, Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist, published 1863, page 237:
- If the power of affording it be placed under the direction of the Union, there will be no danger of a supine and listless inattention to the dangers of a neighbor.
- Woodward
- Passive
- 1748, David Hume, Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral, London: Oxford University Press: 1973, page 34,
- Nothing, therefore, can be more contrary than such a philosophy to the supine indolence of the mind.
- 1748, David Hume, Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral, London: Oxford University Press: 1973, page 34,
(Can we add an example for this sense?)
Synonyms
- (lying back): reclined
- (sloping): inclined, sloping
- (lethargic): lethargic, sleepy, tired
- (passive): passive, peaceful
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations
lying back
lethargic
passive
Noun
supine (plural supines)
- (grammar) A type of verbal noun.
- (grammar) Swedish: verbform in combination with an inflection of ha (sv) to form the present perfect and pluperfect
Translations
verbal noun
See also
Anagrams
Latin
Adjective
supine
- vocative masculine singular of supinus
References
- supine in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- Félix Gaffiot (1934), “supine”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.