bushed
bushed Lexical Profile
bushed Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Extremely tired or physically exhausted (used informally).
"After spending the entire weekend helping my sister move into her third-floor apartment, I was completely bushed."
Australian Lost in the bush or backcountry; by extension, utterly confused, bewildered, or at a loss.
"Without a compass or a clear view of the ridge, the hikers soon realized they were thoroughly bushed."
Overgrown or covered with bushes and scrubby vegetation, or lined with a mechanical metal bush.
"The narrow trail wound steeply upward through the thickly bushed hillsides."
Word Nuance & Usage
"Bushed" is used almost exclusively as a predicate adjective (e.g., "I am completely bushed" rather than "a bushed worker"). In Australian and New Zealand English, it also carries the distinct meaning of being lost in the outback or bewildered.
• Rhymes for bushed
Word Origin & Etymology
The sense of being exhausted arose in mid-19th-century American colloquial speech, possibly from Dutch 'bos' (woods) via the notion of being worn out from clearing or traveling through heavy brush, or from a tool losing its metal bush (lining).