like death warmed over
If someone looks like death warmed over, they look absolutely terrible — pale, hollow-eyed, barely functional, as if they just crawled out of a sickbed or survived a seriously rough night.
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If someone looks like death warmed over, they look absolutely terrible — pale, hollow-eyed, barely functional, as if they just crawled out of a sickbed or survived a seriously rough night. The phrase conjures the image of someone who is technically still alive but not looking like they're especially glad about it. It's used both for genuine illness and for the kind of exhausted wreckage you see after an all-nighter or a bad hangover. Common across North America and Canada.
He showed up to the morning meeting looking like death warmed over after his red-eye flight from Vancouver.
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(US, Canada, simile) Ill, unwell.
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Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
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Semantically related
- look as if one has been dragged through a hedge backwards60%
(intransitive, Britain, simile, humorous, informal) To look extremely dishevelled.
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(slang, idiomatic, euphemistic) To die; to be killed.
- knackered energy58%
The unmistakable vibe someone gives off when they are running on fumes — slow movements, monosyllabic responses, a thousand-yard stare, and a kind of resigned acceptance that the rest of the day is going to be a write-off. Knackered energy is contagious and instantly recognisable. You walk into a room and feel it. It's not depression, it's not rudeness — it's just someone who has nothing left in the tank and isn't pretending otherwise. Often used to describe a group, space, or meeting that collectively feels drained.
- drop dead57%
(intransitive, figuratively) To be appalled or mortified.