more dead than alive

Idioms  

1. Exhausted, in poor condition, as in By the time I got off that mountain I was more dead than alive. This idiom may be used either hyperbolically or literally. [c. 1900]

---

Example Sentences

As we descended the stairs, the museum suddenly looked more like what I was expecting: alien, more dead than alive, as the last stragglers waded into the Technicolor dreamscape Matisse had created with scissors.

From Newsweek • Feb. 10, 2015

None more so than John Hunter, who valued Byrne more dead than alive, and who was determined to get his prize, whatever the cost.

From The Guardian • May 28, 2012

Zollars says he was shocked to learn that his company "was worth more dead than alive" to certain bondholders who had purchased those swaps on YRC.

From BusinessWeek • Jul. 29, 2010

Think of private-equity firms that close a factory — essentially deciding that the company is worth more dead than alive.

From New York Times • Jan. 9, 2010

Clare, who had been feeling more dead than alive only moments before, was now buzzing.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman