supine

/ˌsuˈpaɪn/

/ˈsupaɪn/

You can be described as supine when you're lying face up — for example, your favorite yoga poses might be the supine ones. Someone who is very passive or lethargic could also be called supine — for instance, someone might be supine in the face of continuous threats and insults.

The adjective supine comes from a Latin word, supinus, which means “thrown backwards” or “inactive.” Whenever a person or animal is lying on its back, belly-up, it is supine. When your hand is open, palm-up, it is also supine. Supine can even describe a person who gives insufficient resistance, or who is lazy and ineffectual. "When Jack refused to object to the landlord’s repeated — and gouging — rent increases, he was supine."

Definitions of supine

1. adjective

   lying face upward
   synonyms: resupine

   unerect

   not upright in position or posture
2. adjective

   offering no resistance
   “"No other colony showed such supine, selfish helplessness in allowing her own border citizens to be mercilessly harried"- Theodore Roosevelt”

   synonyms: resistless, unresisting

   inactive, passive

   lacking in energy or will