knackered
knackered Lexical Profile
knackered Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
British Extremely tired or completely exhausted.
"After hiking fifteen miles through the muddy hills, the whole group was completely knackered."
British Broken, worn-out, or damaged beyond repair (of an object, machine, or body part).
"The old washing machine is finally knackered, so we will have to order a replacement this week."
Word Nuance & Usage
Primarily used in British, Irish, Australian, and New Zealand informal speech, 'knackered' is used almost exclusively as a predicate adjective (e.g., 'I am knackered' rather than 'a knackered worker').
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Derived in the late 19th century as the past participle of the verb 'knacker', which comes from the noun 'knacker'—a person whose trade was buying worn-out, old, or injured horses and slaughtering them for meat, hide, and glue.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.