fate worse than death, a

Idioms  

1. A highly undesirable occurrence, a misfortune, as in Dean thinks driving daily during rush hour is a fate worse than death. Formerly applied quite seriously to a woman's loss of virginity, this idiom today is used hyperbolically and far more loosely. [1600s]

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Example Sentences

For a moment, I felt sorry for the old, broken-down woman whose loneliness had turned her into a bruja—a fate worse than death, a fate I wouldn’t wish on anyone, least of all Mamá.

From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall