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• 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.

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drop-dead British  

adverb

1. informal outstandingly or exceptionally

   drop-dead gorgeous

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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.

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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

Their estimates are all within a few days of Treasury’s projections on the drop-dead date.

From Seattle Times ● May 25, 2023

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

This chapter is dedicated to Secret Headquarters in Los Angeles, my drop-dead all-time favorite comic store in the world.

From Little Brother by Doctorow, Cory

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

From BBC ● Apr. 8, 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

Physicians identified this phenomenon in the aftermath of World War II, when they observed skeletal concentration-camp survivors and longtime prisoners of war eat high-caloric foods and then drop dead of cardiac failure.

From New York Times ● Jan. 3, 2024

Then when Joseph took his string of horses to Churchill Downs around this year’s Kentucky Derby, he had two horses drop dead.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2023

“I’m old, you know. Could drop dead any minute. We’ve got to get going!”

From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline