Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

dead as a doornail

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.49 in modern English

Syllables: dead- as a -door-nail
IPA

18

Scrabble Score

15

Letters

4

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Unquestionably dead. Used for both inanimate objects and once living beings.

Example Sentences

"I picked up the phone, but the line was dead as a doornail."
"We finally found John's cat run over in the next road. He was as dead as a doornail."
"Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail."

Etymology

From Middle English ded as dore-nail. One of the earliest usages in English is in William Langland's poem Piers Plowman A. i. 161 (late 14th century) "Fey withouten fait is febelore þen nouȝt, And ded as a dore-nayl", though it is unlikely this is Langland's invention. It also appears in the English William of Palerne l. 628 "For but ich haue bote of mi bale‥I am ded as dore-nail" and in the alliterative debate poem The Parlement of the Thre Ages "Dede als a dore-nayle doune was he fallen" 65. Both of these texts are of uncertain date, and may predate Langland's usage. One plausible explanation is that doors were built using only wood boards and hand-forged nails: the nails were long enough to dead nail the (vertical) wooden panels and (horizontal) stretcher boards securely together, so they would not easily pull apart. This was done by pounding the protruding point of the nail over and down into the wood. A nail that was bent in this fashion (and thus not easily pulled out) was said to be "dead", thus dead as a doornail.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: ded as dore-nail

Inflected Forms

deader than a doornail (alternative)

Phrases

dead as a dodo dead as a doorknob dead as a herring dead as a kipper dead as a mackerel dead as ditch-water deaf as a doornail dumb as a doornail

Frequently Paired Words

dead as a dodo dead as a doorknob dead as a herring dead as a kipper dead as a mackerel dead as ditch-water deaf as a doornail dumb as a doornail

Questions

What does dead as a doornail mean?: Unquestionably dead. Used for both inanimate objects and once living beings.
Where does dead as a doornail come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce dead as a doornail

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “dead as a doornail”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “dead as a doornail”.
Repeat and practice — Say “dead as a doornail” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.