deadhead
/ˈdɛdhɛd/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.12 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A person either admitted to a theatrical or musical performance without charge, or paid to attend.
noun
An employee of a transport company, especially a pilot or flight attendant, traveling as a passenger for logistical reasons, for example to return home or travel to the next assignment.
noun
A train or truck moved between cities with no passengers or freight, in order to make it available for service.
noun
A person staying at a lodging, such as a hotel or boarding house, without paying rent; freeloader.
Example Sentences
- "Among the Romans.... The free admission tickets were small ivory death's heads, and specimens of these are to be seen in the Museum of Naples. From this custom, it is stated, that we derive our word “Deadhead,” as denoting one who has a free entrance to places of amusement."
- "[…] we critics were not his fellow-guests, but simply deadheads whose business it was to "dress the house" and write puffs."
- "Are you my deadhead to Miami?"
- "With the check came two through tickets—good on the railroad from Hawkeye to Washington via New York—and they were “deadhead” tickets, too, which had been given to Senator Dilworthy by the railway companies. Senators and representatives were paid thousands of dollars by the government for traveling expenses, but they always traveled “deadhead” both ways, and then did as any honorable, high-minded men would naturally do—declined to receive the mileage tendered them by the government. The Senator had plenty of railway passes, and could. easily spare two to Laura—one for herself and one for a male escort."
- "I reckon I won't take the vote of any deadhead passenger."
- "PASSENGER One who does not travel on a pass. (Antonym for Deadhead). From Eng. pass, to go, and Grk. endidomi, to give up. One who has to give up to go."
Etymology
From dead + head. Some senses are derived from theater jargon (originally spelled dead head) for audience members admitted without paying, which probably arose in analogy to dead weight or deadwood in reference to their lack of contribution to revenue or in reference to their unenthusiastic (dead) response to performances. Perhaps even from Latin caput mortuum, alchemy term for distillation residue. As Paul Quinion writes: Similarly, the term was applied to a dull or lazy person, one who contributes nothing to an enterprise, only in the early years of the twentieth century, well after the theatrical and transport senses had become well established.
Origin
- Source language: Latin