dead weight
Americannoun
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the heavy, unrelieved weight of anything inert.
The dead weight of the bear's body was over 300 pounds.
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a heavy or oppressive burden or responsibility.
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the weight of a railroad car, truck, etc., as distinct from its load or contents.
noun
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a heavy weight or load
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an oppressive burden; encumbrance
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the difference between the loaded and the unloaded weights of a ship
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another name for dead load
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(in shipping) freight chargeable by weight rather than by bulk
Etymology
Origin of dead weight
First recorded in 1650–60
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.
The factory sector no longer looks like dead weight.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 6, 2026
Misguided, opinionated labor is dead weight; the high-up leaders know best, which is why they’ve earned the positions they have to begin with.
From Slate • Sep. 14, 2023
“I thought I was dead weight / But you wanna carry me / You wanna carry me home,” she sings on the track, gritty guitar sounds behind her.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 25, 2023
If your torso, hips and lower body are rigid, it makes it a lot easier to lift them than if they’re dead weight.
From New York Times • Mar. 8, 2022
He was dead weight as she tugged him forward.
From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
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.
