over my dead body
Not while living
Over my dead body is an emphatic refusal, declaring that something will happen only if the speaker is killed first—meaning never, if they can help it.
The phrase is theatrical but common: You want to date my daughter? Over my dead body!
It expresses protective defiance more than literal threat.
- absolutely notEmphatic total rejection
- no wayEmphatic denial
- not happeningWill never occur
- fat chanceSarcastic denial of possibility
- not on your lifeEmphatic categorical rejection
when pigs fly · not in a million years · hell no · never · not a chance · adamant · forget it · hold the line · out of the question · uncompromising · under no circumstances · draw the line · dream on · stand firm · oppose · push back · protest · vehement
- death idiomskick the bucket, six feet under, kiss of death, death wish, death trap
- refusalsno, decline, no thanks, refuse, nope
- stubbornnessstubbornness, obstinacy, pigheadedness, bullheadedness, mulishness
- expressions of disavowalnot me, no way, I deny it, never, not guilty
- protest sloganssi se puede, enough is enough, rise up, resist, ban the bomb
over my dead bodyabsolutely
Completely, without exception
by all means · yes · be my guest · of course · positively
over my dead bodyhell yes
Forceful informal affirmative
you bet · wholeheartedly · enthusiastically · sign me up · count me in