living death

American  

noun

1. a completely miserable, joyless existence, experience, situation, etc.; ordeal.

   He found the steaming jungle a living death.

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living death British  

noun

1. a life or lengthy experience of constant misery

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Etymology

Origin of living death

First recorded in 1665–75

Example Sentences

Under constant surveillance by her master, Jacobs similarly wrote, “I had rather live and die in jail than drag on, from day to day, through such a living death.”

From Salon

She says for people with loved ones inside a cult, "it's like a living death" - partly because attempts to criticise the group often backfire, leaving them unsure how to act.

From BBC

Some people think comas are easy to recover from or—conversely—a living death.

From Scientific American

“In the end I realize there is the possibility facing three life sentences, which could become a living death for me,” wrote Hernández, who left office in January at the conclusion of his second term.

From Seattle Times

The beautiful queen, whom Marie adores, frames this assignment as a great honor, but the young woman knows she’s “being thrown away like rubbish . . . sent into her living death alone.”

From Washington Post