A creature, usually in fantasy or horror stories, that is neither living nor completely dead—like a zombie or vampire that moves and acts despite being deceased.
Compound of 'un-' (meaning 'not') and 'dead.' Though it appears in older folklore, the term as we use it today was popularized in 20th-century fantasy literature and tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons, becoming standard in gaming and horror fiction.
The concept of the undead has ancient roots in nearly every human culture—from shamans and ghosts to zombies in Caribbean folklore—but the word 'undead' as a formal category only became popular when modern fantasy writers needed a single term to describe all these creatures in their games and stories.
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