burned-out
Americanadjective
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rendered unserviceable or ineffectual by maximum use; consumed.
Check your outdoor lights and replace any burned-out bulbs.
-
exhausted or made listless through overwork, stress, or intemperance.
-
deprived of one's regular place to live, work, etc., by a destructive fire.
Etymology
Origin of burned-out
First recorded in 1805–15
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Pratt added that his burned-out lot is still his legal residence and that he recently moved an Airstream trailer to the Palisades lot where he now plans to live.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 6, 2026
For burned-out white-collar workers, it has become a popular midcareer fantasy.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 7, 2026
Proponents argued that Palisades residents should not have to pay the tax if they sell their burned-out properties.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 17, 2025
Would we give a burned-out caregiver a week’s paid vacation?
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 30, 2025
We passed by burned-out buildings and weedy, littered vacant lots.
From "P.S. Be Eleven" by Rita Williams-Garcia
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
