dead weight

or deadweight

noun

1. the heavy, unrelieved weight of anything inert:

   The dead weight of the bear's body was over 300 pounds.

2. a heavy or oppressive burden or responsibility.
3. the weight of a railroad car, truck, etc., as distinct from its load or contents.

dead weight

noun

1. a heavy weight or load
2. an oppressive burden; encumbrance
3. the difference between the loaded and the unloaded weights of a ship
4. another name for dead load
5. (in shipping) freight chargeable by weight rather than by bulk

Word History and Origins

Origin of dead weight¹

First recorded in 1650–60

Idioms and Phrases

A heavy or oppressive burden, as in That police record will be a dead weight on his career . This term alludes to the unrelieved weight of an inert mass. [Early 1700s]

Example Sentences

The text of the measure was unenforceable, but the dead words remained in the California Constitution, a dead weight on our collective conscience.

From Los Angeles Times

“Every single person who saw Joe Biden knew that he wasn’t capable of doing the job. And for three years, they said nothing until he became political dead weight.”

From Salon

Now he had been deemed dead weight in Italy, too.

From New York Times

It felt like the old donkey had gone slack and left the entirety of his dead weight for me to drag.

From Literature

That’s because when he was in contact with the rock his legs were worse than dead weight.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• barrier
• bottleneck
• burden
• defect
• deterrent
• difficulty
• disadvantage
• drawback
• flaw
• handicap
• hazard
• hitch
• hurdle
• inhibition
• obstacle
• red tape
• restriction
• setback
• snag
• stumbling block