dead as a doorknob
Utterly without life
Dead as a doorknob means completely dead or utterly lifeless.
The phrase is a variant of the older "dead as a doornail," with doorknob substituted perhaps through confusion or playful alteration.
Both expressions use the door hardware as an image of something that was never alive to begin with: The engine was dead as a doorknob.
Sometimes used figuratively for things that have failed completely: That proposal is dead as a doorknob.
- kicked the bucketDied, colloquially
- inanimateNot alive, never was
- kaputSlang for ruined
- belly upInsolvent, out of business
- cadaverousResembling the deceased
pushing up daisies · bought the farm · obsolete · finished · nonliving · washed up · past its prime · lifeless · flat as a pancake · unresponsive · broken · insensate · out of commission · defunct · six feet under · no longer with us · motionless · stone cold
dead as a doorknobalive and kicking
Healthy and active
full of life · alive and well · living · alive · breathing
dead as a doorknobfull of beans
Very lively, energetic
vibrant · animated · buzzing · energetic · bright-eyed and bushy-tailed
dead as a doorknobup and running
Functioning as intended
functioning · working · fully charged · in working order · good as new
dead, deaden, deadened, deadening, deadly, deadness, door, doors, doored