Word.ws English Dictionary

dropped dead

dropped dead is the simple past and past participle of drop dead.

Meaning of drop dead

Verb

drop dead (third-person singular simple present drops dead, present participle dropping dead, simple past and past participle dropped dead)

  1. (intransitive) To die suddenly.
    • Stuff your eyes with wonder […]live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.1953, Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
  2. (figuratively, intransitive) To be appalled or mortified.
    • `My parents would drop dead if they knew,' she said.1965, James Holledge, What Makes a Call Girl?, London: Horwitz Publications, page 90

See all 3 meanings of drop dead

Questions about dropped dead

What is dropped dead the simple past and past participle of?
Dropped dead is the simple past and past participle of drop dead.

Words near dropped dead in the dictionary

  1. dropped back
  2. dropped behind
  3. dropped by
  4. dropped ceiling
  5. dropped ceilings
  6. dropped dead
  7. dropped dimes
  8. dropped down
  9. dropped egg
  10. dropped eggs
  11. dropped goal

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dropped dead (page history and authors); drop dead (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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