DEFINITION
adjective
: tired, exhausted.
EXAMPLES
1. She was knackered after a hard day of work and decided not to join us for an evening out.
2. “But when Shmuel, knackered and self-satisfied, walks into the house after an afternoon’s absence of indeterminate length and implausible itinerary, my heart expands in gratitude.” — From an article by Leslie Kolbrener in The Forward, July 19, 2013.
DID YOU KNOW?
“Knackered” is derived from the past participle of “knacker,” a slang term meaning “to kill,” but also “to tire, exhaust, or wear out.” The origins of the verb “knacker” are uncertain, but the word is perhaps related to an older noun “knacker,” which originally was used to indicate a harness-maker or saddlemaker, and later for buyers of worn-out animals (or their carcasses) and old structures. The origins of the noun “knacker,” however, remain obscure. “Knackered” is used on both sides of the Atlantic but is more common among British speakers.
