coma

coma — noun

1. a serious medical condition where a person lies completely still without any res

1.nounB2
Definition

a serious medical condition where a person lies completely still without any response to the world around them for days or weeks, often because the brain has been damaged by a crash, a disease, or toxic substances

Example

After the car crash, Aiko was in a coma for three weeks.

be in a coma (state)

The doctors explained that Hana's coma was caused by a severe brain infection.

coma caused by [cause]

Common collocations
  • deep coma
  • medically induced coma
  • irreversible coma
  • slip into a coma
  • emerge from a coma
  • coma patient
Synonyms
  • unconsciousness

    a general term for any loss of awareness; may be brief (fainting) or prolonged, while coma specifically implies long-term brain injury

  • vegetative state

    a more severe long-term condition where the person shows no awareness of the environment; coma patients may regain consciousness, but vegetative state rarely improves

Antonyms
  • consciousness

    the normal state of being awake and aware

  • alertness

    full mental engagement and awareness, opposite of the deep unconsciousness of a coma

Grammar Patterns

be in a coma

come out of a coma

Common Mistakes

I fell into a coma after working all night.
I fell into a deep sleep after working all night.
Coma is a serious medical condition; do not use it to describe ordinary tiredness or sleep.
She had a coma for two days.
She was in a coma for two days.
Use 'be in a coma' or 'fall into a coma', not 'have a coma'.

Word family

  • comatose
    adjectiveC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All three terms describe a loss of awareness, but they differ in depth, duration, and cause. Unconsciousness is the broadest term — it covers everything from a brief fainting spell to a drug-induced sleep; a person can be unconscious for seconds or hours. A coma is a specific medical condition: deep, prolonged unconsciousness caused by brain damage from injury, illness, or poisoning, and the person cannot be woken at all. A vegetative state is even more severe — the person may open their eyes or make sounds but shows no meaningful response to the world around them. Stupor is a lighter state: the person appears asleep but can be roused briefly by strong stimulation. For example, a concussion might cause temporary unconsciousness, a car crash survivor might lie in a coma for weeks, and a patient with severe brain damage may enter a vegetative state from which recovery is unlikely.

unconsciousnessvegetative statestupor

Common collocations

Nouns

  • coma patient
  • coma ward
  • coma state

Phrases

  • fall into a coma
  • slip into a coma
  • emerge from a coma
  • be in a coma
  • come out of a coma
  • medically induced coma
  • deep coma

Prepositions

  • in a coma
  • out of a coma

Etymology

GreekLatinEnglish

The word coma entered English in the 1600s from the medical Latin coma, which itself came from the Greek kōma meaning 'deep sleep'. Ancient Greek doctors used kōma to describe a heavy, unnatural sleep that sometimes followed a serious illness or head injury, a meaning that has stayed remarkably close to the modern medical term.