ENGLISH
REFERENCE

dead inside

idiom
Meaning

Unable to feel any emotions, especially as a symptom of depression.


Examples
SIMPLE

After working ten hours, I feel completely dead inside.

CONTEXTUAL

He stared at the computer screen for hours, feeling dead inside after his long-term relationship ended.

COMPLEX

Despite the applause from the audience, the exhausted performer felt entirely dead inside, as if the joy of the craft had vanished.

Anchors to
Related idioms8entries
  1. 01

    beat a dead horse

    To persist or continue far beyond any purpose, interest or reason.

  2. 02

    brown bread

    [Cockney slang]dead

  3. 03

    come back from the dead

    To experience a resurgence after one's productive years are assumed to have ended.

  4. 04

    dead 'n' buried

    Contraction of dead and buried.

  5. 05

    dead air

    An unintended interruption in a broadcast during which nothing is transmitted: a silent period on radio or a silent period with no picture on television.

  6. 06

    dead and buried

    Of an issue, moot, passed, irrelevant, forgotten.

  7. 07

    dead asleep

    Sleeping in a deep sleep

  8. 08

    dead cat bounce

    A temporary recovery in the price of a financial instrument which has fallen rapidly and is expected to fall further in the long run.

Last updated April 17, 2026