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.
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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.
Footage analysed by BBC Verify and online by GeoConfirmed open source analysts shows burned-out shells of container lorries and other military vehicles at multiple locations along a key route through southern Ukraine.
From BBC ● May 30, 2026
In the video, he shows an Airstream trailer on the burned-out lot, where he says he lives since they won’t let him rebuild his home.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026
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
As a college student, you have more imagination and idealism than a burned-out professional who feels pigeonholed into a particular industry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026
In fact, the burned-out city became a magnet for the curious who clogged the streets to see the ruins and poke through the rubble for souvenirs.
From "The Great Fire" by Jim Murphy
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.
