wouldn't be seen dead

verb

To find incredibly horrifying; embarrassing or otherwise entirely unsuitable for oneself.

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Meanings

verb
  1. idiomaticTo find incredibly horrifying; embarrassing or otherwise entirely unsuitable for oneself.

    He'd seen an item about the resort on TV, though he couldn't remember whether it had been Tomorrow's World, Holiday or Eurotrash. What he could remember was swearing he wouldn't be seen dead in the place

    2012, Christopher Brookmyre, One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night
    1 more example

    I really don't want to buy anything. You seem by bad luck to be stocked up with just the sort of things I wouldn't be seen dead in a ditch with. I can't stand rubber rings, never could. I'm not really keen on buttonhooks.

    1916, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 1, in Uneasy Money
Cite this entry
APA

wouldn't be seen dead. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wouldn't%20be%20seen%20dead

MLA

“wouldn't be seen dead.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wouldn't%20be%20seen%20dead. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wouldn't be seen dead,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wouldn't%20be%20seen%20dead.

Source: wouldn't be seen dead on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.