drop-dead
adverb
Simple meaning
Absolutely final; being the deadline.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
drahpdedSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈdɹɑpdɛd
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adverb
informalnot comparablebusinesslaw
Absolutely final; being the deadline, especially in relation to a date set out in a contract upon which adverse consequences will flow if the contract has not been fulfilled.
informal
Very impressively or spectacularly.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Typical Use
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (informal, not comparable, business, law) Absolutely final; being the deadline, especially in relation to a date set out in a contract upon which adverse consequences will flow if the contract has not been fulfilled.
Used this way, drop-dead is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a legal use: the wording is institutional and carries a defined meaning in law rather than a loose everyday one.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Casual
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Playful
- Usage feel
- Casual and conversational
Where it naturally appears
- Law/legal
- Government/politics
- Academic writing
- Business/professional
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use drop-dead
- “She was drop-dead gorgeous.”adverb
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.