burned-out
Americanadjective
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rendered unserviceable or ineffectual by maximum use; consumed.
Check your outdoor lights and replace any burned-out bulbs.
-
exhausted or made listless through overwork, stress, or intemperance.
-
deprived of one's regular place to live, work, etc., by a destructive fire.
Etymology
Origin of burned-out
First recorded in 1805–15
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.
Advice for a burned-out breadwinner: A letter writer who’s outwardly successful by all measures—a wife, kids, a well-paying job—can’t stop dreaming about leaving it all behind.
From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026
Juan Galicia stood in front of the ruins of his Larchmont home, the burned-out frame of a 1910 Craftsman.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026
Some families are living in RVs on their burned-out lots.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026
Footage analysed by BBC Verify and online by GeoConfirmed open source analysts shows burned-out shells of container lorries and other military vehicles at multiple locations along a key route through southern Ukraine.
From BBC ● May 30, 2026
Now I realize we’re near the burned-out office.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
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.
