Jump To:

• drop-dead
  drop-dead

  adjective

  inspiring awe, astonishment, or envy.
• drop dead
  drop dead

  An expression of anger, rejection, or indignation toward someone. For example, I should do all that work for you? Drop dead! This rude imperative is usually hyperbolic, that is, the speaker is not literally asking someone to die on the spot. [c. 1930] Curiously, the adjective (and adverb) drop-dead is not at all insulting. Rather, it means “dazzling” or “awe-inspiring,” as in She wore a drop-dead outfit that all the other women admired. This usage originated in slangy journalism in the 1960s.

drop-dead

American  

[drop-ded] / ˈdrɒpˌdɛd /

adjective

1. inspiring awe, astonishment, or envy.

   a drop-dead guest list; a drop-dead sable coat.

2. being the most extreme limit or possibility.

   What's the drop-dead date for handing in term papers? That is our drop-dead offer.

---

drop-dead British  

adverb

1. informal outstandingly or exceptionally

   drop-dead gorgeous

---

drop dead Idioms  

1. An expression of anger, rejection, or indignation toward someone. For example, I should do all that work for you? Drop dead! This rude imperative is usually hyperbolic, that is, the speaker is not literally asking someone to die on the spot. [c. 1930] Curiously, the adjective (and adverb) drop-dead is not at all insulting. Rather, it means “dazzling” or “awe-inspiring,” as in She wore a drop-dead outfit that all the other women admired. This usage originated in slangy journalism in the 1960s.

---

Etymology

Origin of drop-dead

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

drop-dead drop dead

When can I get my hands on the Genesis G90 Wingback, a drop-dead gorgeous performance wagon unveiled in concept form last December?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026

He was as militant a union man as I ever met, and I have met a few in my day, and moreover, he was drop-dead brilliant.

From Salon ● Dec. 31, 2024

LaRose told him next Wednesday is the drop-dead deadline.

From Seattle Times ● May 23, 2024

The genius of Humphries’ conceit was to translate the small-minded, unyielding smugness of the middle-class Australian suburbs in which he grew up into the even more invincible complacency of outrageous, drop-dead stardom.

From New York Times ● Apr. 24, 2023

They assign their own numbers, tap into digital transmissions, reprogram the main switches, create drop-dead billings, keep unlimited access lines and Operator Control.

From Terminal Compromise: computer terrorism: when privacy and freedom are the victims: a novel by Schwartau, Winn

Brooker adds: "I'll find out when it stops if I drop dead or people stop watching."

From BBC ● Apr. 8, 2025

“That’s what I’m working towards, and if I drop dead at the end of it, I’ll die a happy man.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 5, 2025

If Elon Musk were to drop dead tomorrow, the damage to Tesla’s share price would be unfathomable, because companies and also dumb crypto tokens get much more valuable when Musk breathes on them.

From Slate ● Dec. 6, 2024

Activision has applied to intervene in Microsoft's appeal against the CMA's decision, saying that the planned deal has a "drop dead" date of July 18.

From Reuters ● May 30, 2023

“What kind of world is it, Miss Louise, where princesses are taken from right under our noses and queens drop dead and we cannot even take comfort in soup?”

From "The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread" by Kate DiCamillo