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• washed-up
  washed-up

  adjective

  done for; having failed completely.
• washed up
  washed up

  adjective

  no longer useful, successful, hopeful, etc

washed-up

American  

[wosht-uhp, wawsht-] / ˈwɒʃtˈʌp, ˈwɔʃt- /

adjective

Informal.

1. done for; having failed completely.

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washed up British  

adjective

1. no longer useful, successful, hopeful, etc

   our hopes for the new deal are all washed up

2. exhausted

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washed up Idioms  

1. see wash up, def. 3.

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Etymology

Origin of washed-up

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

washed-up washed up

They will be promoted on social media and television by washed-up athletes and unscrupulous influencers paid well for their perfidy.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026

And, most importantly, as a washed-up hipster living in central Brooklyn, I am surrounded by fans of Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur—two teams I also know nothing about—and I simply refuse to conform to that coalition.

From Slate ● Aug. 28, 2026

Pauline, a 65-year-old nurse at Ysbyty Cwm Cynon, in Mountain Ash, described the washed-up fish as "a shocking thing to see, because of the size of it".

From BBC ● May 27, 2026

Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, the original Clayface was a washed-up actor turned criminal who first appeared in a 1940 issue of “Detective Comics.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026

“Ammu,” Chacko said, his voice steady and deliberately casual, “is it at all possible for you to prevent your washed-up cynicism from completely coloring everything?”

From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy

Who among us Dodgers fans cares that he thinks the Dodgers are washed up?

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

When the containers were damaged these tiny pieces of plastic spilled into the water and eventually washed up on beaches.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

Hundreds of "incredible" blue sea creatures have washed up on beaches in Cumbria.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

Ronaldo has heard that he was washed up, that he no longer belonged in their league.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026

I thought they would be washed up close to the shore, when the tide came.

From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier