Synonyms

dead horse

American

noun

something that has ceased to be useful or relevant.

idioms

beat / flog a dead horse, to persist in pursuing or trying to revive interest in a project or subject that has lost its usefulness or relevance.

dead horse More Idioms

see beat a dead horse.

Etymology

Origin of dead horse

An Americanism dating back to 1820–30

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.

Just saying it once feels like I’m beating a dead horse.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 23, 2026

It’s also largely responsible for the smell of the delicately-named dead horse arum, a relative of the so-called corpse flower, or titan arum.

From Salon • May 31, 2025

“I think you would like to have those players playing in an ideal world, but I feel like we’re sort of beating a dead horse in this media room a little bit,” he said.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 13, 2024

The dead horse was found by a citizen in Hempstead, about 50 miles northwest of Houston, at around 8:30 a.m.

From Washington Times • Nov. 24, 2023

I believe that trait finds its origins in all the months spent in the hospital after that dead horse fell a hundred sideways miles off the Salmon Creek Gorge Bridge and landed on me.

From "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023