Meaning & use
tired as a dog
Last updated
Meaning
phrasefixed phraseinformal
Extremely tired; so exhausted that you can hardly keep going.
Grammar: Used after 'be', 'feel', or 'look': I'm tired as a dog. It is not put before a noun.
Patterns
- be tired as a dog
- feel tired as a dog
- look tired as a dog
After the night shift I was tired as a dog.
You look tired as a dog — go to bed early tonight.
We walked all day and by dinner we were tired as a dog.
Common combinations
- be tired as a dog after something
- She was tired as a dog after the marathon.
- feel tired as a dog
- I feel tired as a dog this morning.
- look tired as a dog
- He looked tired as a dog in the meeting.
Synonyms and how they differ
- exhausted
- 'Exhausted' is neutral and stronger in formal use; 'tired as a dog' is casual and more vivid.
- worn out
- 'Worn out' also means very tired but suggests long effort, and it is slightly less informal than this phrase.
- dog-tired
- 'Dog-tired' means the same and is also informal, but it is one word and used before 'be' in the same way.
Opposites
Commonly confused: tired as a dog or sick as a dog?
tired as a dog vs sick as a dog
'Sick as a dog' means very ill, not very tired; the animal is the same but the meaning is different.
Practice
Choose the sentence that uses the phrase naturally.
Choose one answer.
The phrase follows 'be' and describes the person, so 'I am tired as a dog' is correct. The other options break the fixed pattern.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “tired as a dog”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.