roadkill
Britishnoun
Explanation
Roadkill means the dead body of an animal that's been hit by a car. Some people are so sensitive they can't stand to look at roadkill. Animals that die on a highway, usually because they've been struck by a vehicle, are roadkill. You can also spell it as two words, road kill. The word is fairly modern, from the early 1970's, in part because before cars were invented — and before there were so many of them on the roads — there weren't so many animals affected by the transportation of humans. Use the term figuratively when someone feels unwanted: "I felt like roadkill when you didn't invite me."
Vocabulary lists containing roadkill
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Once left for dead as AI roadkill, Google Search ad revenue rose by 19% from the year before in the first quarter, its best mark since 2022.
From Barron's • Jun. 2, 2026
“A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” is sticky sweet and sludgy and so cloyingly aesthetic that the roadkill bleeds ropes of twee entrails.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 19, 2025
This is a man who, even aside from the worm in his brain and his propensity for collecting roadkill, is one of the biggest conspiracy theorists in the country.
From Salon • Oct. 30, 2024
The interview itself is often described as a “car crash” - but in this version, the prince's reputation is more like roadkill.
From BBC • Sep. 18, 2024
“I’m sorry about your chickens, but they must be dog food or roadkill by now. How could they have made it this far?”
From "Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer" by Kelly Jones
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.
