How do you say “Dead as a doornail” in Spanish?
The closest natural Spanish equivalent is completamente muerto, which literally means “completely dead”. English speakers use dead as a doornail to mean to be completely dead or no longer working. Plain Spanish emphasis works well here. A device can also be described as “muerto” in an informal, figurative sentence. Register: neutral. Usage frequency: common.
Closest natural Spanish
completamente muerto
/kompletaˈmente ˈmweɾto/
- Literal meaning
- “completely dead”
- Register
- neutral
- How often it's used
- common
- Equivalence
Near-exact equivalent
91 out of 100
What a native Spanish speaker would actually say
Use “muerta” with a feminine noun: “la radio está completamente muerta”. This describes a device that gives no sign of working.
For an actual death, the phrase is very direct. It keeps the certainty of the English but loses its old-fashioned, slightly comic comparison.
How close is the meaning?
- Meaning5 out of 5
- Tone4 out of 5
- Context5 out of 5
- Literal similarity2 out of 5
These ratings are editorial approximations, not measurements.
In context
English
The beetle on the windowsill was dead as a doornail.
Spanish
El escarabajo del alféizar estaba completamente muerto.
English
I tried new batteries, but the old radio was dead as a doornail.
Spanish
Probé con pilas nuevas, pero la radio vieja estaba completamente muerta.
Related expressions
Last updated 2026-11-13