kaput

[ kah-poot, -poot, kuh- ]

adjective

, Slang.

1. ruined; done for; demolished.
2. unable to operate or continue:

   The washing machine is suddenly kaput.

kaput

/ kæˈpʊt /

adjective

1. informal.
   postpositive ruined, broken, or not functioning

Word History and Origins

Origin of kaput¹

First recorded in 1890–95; from German: originally, “trickless” (in game of piquet), from French (être) capot “(to be) without tricks,” i.e., make zero score

Word History and Origins

Origin of kaput¹

C20: from German kaputt done for, from French être capot to have made no tricks (literally: to be hoodwinked), from capot hooded cloak

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. go kaput, Slang. to cease functioning; break down:

   The old car finally went kaput.

Example Sentences

His latest acquisition is a spider that, unbeknown to Kaleb, was smuggled from a Middle Eastern desert after rendering one of its captors agonizingly kaput.

From New York Times

"Don't worry about this Rwanda issue. It is kaput," he claimed.

From BBC

But then the car’s transmission went kaput and she had to take out a costly loan to fix it, and keep her toehold in the middle class.

From Seattle Times

In a post that day on X, formerly known as Twitter, Goenka wrote that the Sony deal going kaput was “a sign from the Lord.”

From Seattle Times

Because the qubits are entangled, these errors spread like wildfire, and the entire computation goes kaput.

From Science Magazine