look as if one has been dragged through a hedge backwards
/ˌlʊk‿əz‿ɪf ˈwʌn həz bɪn ˈdɹæɡd θɹu‿ə hɛd͡ʒ ˈbækwɝdz/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.42 in modern English
87
Scrabble Score
47
Letters
2
Syllables
18
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Bill is right, for I heard him say myself she [a racehorse] couldn't stay; he'd eat her if she won: drawn too fine; was on the go; done too much work; had a bad night, and looked as if she was dragged through a hedge backwards, and hadn't eaten a feed of corn for a month."
- ""Papa wants you in the library," she said, coldly; "but I advise you not to go downstairs till you have smoothed your hair. You look as if you had been dragged through a hedge backwards.""
- ""I want the waist to be narrow," I told the tailor at Huntsmans, "I don't want to look as if I've been dragged through a hedge backwards.""
- "Fasten that top button, Kosh. […] And tidy up that bearskin! You look like you've been dragged through a hedge backwards."
- "A nail technician was mortified after splurging £500 on 'princess hair' only to end up looking like she'd been "dragged through a hedge backwards" – after getting in a hot tub. […] The teen confesses that advice is to avoid chlorinated water, wearing your hair in a bun or sleeping with wet hair after having extensions fitted – and she managed to do all three in one night."
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌlʊk‿əz‿ɪf ˈwʌn həz bɪn ˈdɹæɡd θɹu‿ə hɛd͡ʒ ˈbækwɝdz/
- British English: /ˌlʊk‿əz‿ɪf ˈwʌn həz bɪn ˈdɹæɡd θɹuː‿ə hɛd͡ʒ ˈbækwɜːdz/
Usage
- British usage
- Humorous
- Informal
- Intransitive verb
Inflected Forms
looks as if one has been dragged through a hedge backwards (present, singular)
looking as if one has been dragged through a hedge backwards (participle, present)
looked as if one had been dragged through a hedge backwards (participle, past)
looked as if one had been dragged through a hedge backwards (past)