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Synonyms

kiss of death

American  

noun

  1. a fatal or destructive relationship or action.

    The support of the outlawed group was the kiss of death to the candidate.
kiss of death British  

noun

  1. an act or relationship that has fatal or disastrous consequences

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
kiss of death Idioms  

  1. An action or relationship that is ultimately ruinous. For example, Some regard a royal divorce as a kiss of death to the monarchy. This term alludes to the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot, who kissed him as a way of identifying him to the soldiers who came to arrest him (Matthew 26: 47–49). It dates only from about 1940 but was previously called a Judas kiss.

Etymology

Origin of kiss of death

First recorded in 1945–50

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.