knackered

Knackered is British slang for exhausted. If you are knackered, you are completely worn out. Things can be knackered too, meaning broken or worn out: a knackered phone, a knackered old car.

What does knackered mean?

It is the everyday British way to say you are shattered after a long day, a night out or a workout. It is informal but not rude, so you will hear it from teenagers, grandparents and newsreaders alike. Applied to objects, it means they have stopped working properly or are on their last legs.

How to use it

• “I’m knackered, I’ve been on my feet all day.”
• “After the night shift I was absolutely knackered.”
• “My laptop’s knackered, it won’t even turn on.”
• “Don’t take that ladder, it’s knackered.”

Where it comes from

The word is usually linked to “knacker,” an old British term for someone who bought worn-out horses for slaughter, so something “knackered” is fit only for the knacker’s yard. The exact path is debated, but the sense of being used up fits. It has been common in British English for generations and is also used in Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

Knackered vs. tired

Tired is neutral. Knackered is stronger and more casual, roughly “exhausted” or “wiped out.” Americans would more often say “beat” or “wiped.”

Related terms

• bare: in UK slang, lots of or very
• innit: “isn’t it”
• peak: unlucky or bad
• bruv: brother, mate
• brekkie: breakfast, informally

See more terms like this in our British slang dictionary.