more dead than alive

more dead than alive

1. Physically, mentally, or emotionally exhausted. He looked more dead than alive by the time he finished the race. These divorce proceedings have me completely worn down and worn out—I feel more dead than alive at the moment.

2. Very unwell or in very poor condition. The poor child was more dead than alive when they finally found him.

See also: alive, dead, more

more dead than alive

Fig. exhausted; in very bad condition; near death. (Almost always an exaggeration.) We arrived at the top of the mountain more dead than alive. The marathon runners stumbled one by one over the finish line, more dead than alive.

See also: alive, dead, more

more dead than alive

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]

See also: alive, dead, more