drop dead

drop dead

1. verb To die suddenly. Brett always seemed so healthy—I'm shocked that he dropped dead at age 55.
2. rude slang An expression of dismissal and contempt for someone. I'm not cleaning up your mess! Drop dead!
3. adjective Spectacularly or sensationally striking, impressive, or awe-inspiring. Used before a noun. In this usage, if is often hyphenated. To flaunt his success, he always shows up in a flashy car with a drop-dead beauty in the passenger seat. She strode into the room wearing a drop-dead dress that made every head turn.
4. adjective Rudely dismissive or disdainful. Used before a noun. In this usage, if is often hyphenated. The politician eventually tempered his drop-dead attitude, indicating that he was willing to work with the groups that had been protesting his proposed legislation.
5. adverb Sensationally; spectacularly; outstandingly. Used before an adjective. In this usage, if is often hyphenated. He was kind of a pudgy, dorky looking kid in high school, but I just saw him at the reunion and he is drop-dead gorgeous now!
See also: dead, drop
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

drop dead

 
1. . to die suddenly. I understand that Tom Anderson dropped dead at his desk yesterday. No one knows why Uncle Bob suddenly dropped dead.
2. Go away and stop bothering me. (Usually Drop dead!) If you think I'm going to put up with your rudeness all afternoon, you can just drop dead! Drop dead! I'm not your slave!
See also: dead, drop
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

drop dead

An expression of anger, rejection, or indignation toward someone. For example, I should do all that work for you? Drop dead! This rude imperative is usually hyperbolic, that is, the speaker is not literally asking someone to die on the spot. [c. 1930] Curiously, the adjective (and adverb) drop-dead is not at all insulting. Rather, it means "dazzling" or "awe-inspiring," as in She wore a drop-dead outfit that all the other women admired. This usage originated in slangy journalism in the 1960s.
See also: dead, drop
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

drop dead

INFORMAL, RUDE
If you tell someone to drop dead, you are telling them in a rude and angry way to go away and leave you alone. Richard told me to drop dead. Seventy-five percent of the firms he called for data were hostile and told him to drop dead.
See also: dead, drop

drop-dead

COMMON You can use drop-dead to emphasize that someone or something is very attractive or beautiful. She's drop-dead gorgeous. The club was packed with drop-dead models.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

drop dead

1 die suddenly and unexpectedly. 2 used as an expression of intense scorn or dislike. informal
This idiom is the source of the adjective drop-dead , which is used to emphasize how attractive someone or something is, as in drop-dead gorgeous .
See also: dead, drop
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

drop ˈdead


1 (informal) die very suddenly
2 (spoken) used as a rude way of telling somebody to go away: Drop dead, will you!
See also: dead, drop
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

Drop dead!

exclam. No!; Beat it!; Go away and don’t bother me! I don’t care. Just drop dead!
See also: drop

drop-dead

1. mod. stunning enough to make one drop dead. (Not literal.) I had my living room done in a bright drop-dead red that makes your blood run cold!
2. mod. rude, as if telling someone to drop dead. I couldn’t stand the boss’s drop-dead attitude, so I quit.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

drop dead

I hate you, you are contemptible. This rude imperative dates from the early 1900s. An early example appeared in John O’Hara’s novel Appointment in Samarra (1934): “‘Let’s put snow on his face.’ ‘Oh, drop dead.’” Interestingly enough, in the second half of the 1900s the term, now hyphenated drop-dead, began to be used as an adjective or adverb meaning “very” or “exceedingly” and usually in a positive context. It was frequently paired, especially in the phrase drop-dead gorgeous.
See also: dead, drop
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • flag
  • flagged
  • flagging
  • dished
  • gangshag
References in periodicals archive
Swati Kaushal's Drop Dead banks on ' hell hath no fury than a woman scorned'!
IN SEARCH OF THE PERFECT THRILLER
I thought there was an enormous feelgood factor in the room when Drop Dead Fred was performing.
On The Beat: Robert Nichols
Consider the "Drop Dead" headline and Saturday Night Live skits about President Ford.
1974: the accidental president: Gerald Ford never ran for higher office, but after the Watergate scandal, he stepped into the presidency and helped the nation heal its wounds
Drop Dead Gorgeous is shown on BBC Three on Sundays at 10pm.
STREET CAR SELLERS TOLD: HIT THE ROAD; PICTURE EXCLUSIVE SINEAD'S SO GORGEOUS EXCLUSIVE
I believe a more accurate statement would be that [Alpha]-tocopherol should drop dead.
What should drop dead?
I HAVE no pity, none at all, for all these youngsters who drop dead after swallowing dangerous drugs.
Junkies do not deserve sympathy
Some of the products include Absolutely Flawless duo powder and concealer compact, eye shadows Show Girl (shimmery peach/champagne), Ego (metallic cocoa) and Pixie Dust (dreamy gold) and Love Hangover (burgundy red) nail polish and Drop Dead Red lipstick.
Los Angeles-based Too Faced
In "Turn On, Tune In, Drop Dead," Rosenbaum catches up with Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, many years after her path-breaking writings about coming to terms with death, and discovers she's developed a ghoulish idealized notion that death represents a higher stage of consciousness.
THE SECRET PARTS OF FORTUNE: Three Decades of Intense Investigation and Edgy Enthusiasm
Within a week, your hair and teeth might start to fall out--and your dog or cat could drop dead.
Nuclear Energy Safe or Deadly?
Dew Drop Dead clinics will litter the Southern rural scence.
Business as usual
Saturday magazine 15.09.2018 MAGAZINE Drop dead gorgeous Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh's catand-mouse game turns into deadly obsession for assassin and special agent in dark new drama Killing Eve fashion Feeling the chill?
DON'T MISS
AT 2,355ft above ground, the view from this mountain top walkway is drop dead gorgeous.
Viewing platform above a 2,400ft sheer drop? What could possibly go wrong?
London, Feb 9 (ANI): Despite their break-up, Ronnie Wood's ex-wife Jo is still concerned about the rocker and has revealed that she spent years fearing her partner would 'drop dead because of his drinking.'
Ronnie Wood's ex Jo feared he would 'drop dead due to drinking'
Drop Dead Gorgeous, set in Runcorn and filmed in Merseyside, is the story of schoolgirl Ashley Webb who is spotted by a modelling agent in a local cafe.
Ordinary life of a model; Laura Davis meets the writer behind a new BBC comedy which was filmed in Merseyside
"It could drop dead on us anytime, so we're going to continue to push the vehicle very, very hard," notes Squyres.--R.C.
Dusty rejuvenation