dog's life

noun

A miserable, wretched existence.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

noundog's life (plural dogs' lives)

plural dogs' lives

  1. idiomaticA miserable, wretched existence.

    Mr. Ford afterwards had a dogs life among them.

    1528, J. Strype, Fox Manuscripts, page 174
  2. idiomaticA life of indolence where the individual may do as they please, just like a pampered dog.

Origin

First use appears c. 1528. See cite below.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Danish hundeliv
  • hundelivmiserable life
Finnish koiranelämä, kissanpäivät
  • koiranelämämiserable life
  • kissanpäivätpampered life
French vie de chien, vie de galérien
  • vie de chienmiserable life
  • vie de galérienmiserable life
  • vivre comme un coq en pâtepampered life
German Hundeleben
  • Hundelebenmiserable life
Greek σκυλίσια ζωή
  • σκυλίσια ζωή (skylísia zoḯ)miserable life
Italian vita da cani
  • vita da canimiserable life
Norwegian Bokmål hundeliv
  • hundelivmiserable life
Polish pieskie życie
  • pieskie życiemiserable life
Portuguese vida de cão
  • vida de cãomiserable life
Romanian viață de câine
  • viață de câinemiserable life
Russian соба́чья жизнь
  • соба́чья жизнь (sobáčʹja žiznʹ)miserable life
Cite this entry
APA

dog's life. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dog's%20life

MLA

“dog's life.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dog's%20life. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dog's life,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dog's%20life.

Source: dog's life on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.