at the end of one's rope
- idiom
- Informal
- After weeks of struggling with his finances, he finally felt like he was at the end of his rope.
- just at the end of my rope
- guy at the end of his rope
Examples
-
I'm at the end of my rope.
-
I am, unfortunately, at the end of my rope with my manager.
Blog text (25) -
And she was just at the end of her rope.
-
I was at the end of my rope.
-
I am about at the end of my rope.
-
Are you at the end of your rope?
-
You have to be at the end of your rope to be here.
-
You are at the end of your rope.
-
If you are at the end of your rope, please do not give up.
Blog text (27) -
And I feel like I'm at the end of my rope.
Synonyms
21
7.7
Very close to failure or defeat with little chance to recover
19
7.4
Someone who has no more patience because of many annoying things
11
7.7
To reach a point where you cannot continue because you are very tired or stuck
1
7.2
Being very tired or worn out and about to break down
Very tired and cannot deal with a situation any more
Antonyms
How Stressed
40
3.9
- Informal
3
5.1
225
2.7
247
3.6
680
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
at + the + end + of + one's + rope
The image 'end of one's rope' invites a clear metaphor (no more rope = no more options), so the connection between 'end' and 'rope' and the idea of reaching a limit is inferable from the parts. However, the phrase encodes an idiomatic extension (patience/endurance/resources) that requires mapping from the literal scene to a psychological state, and cross-linguistic realizations vary, so a B1 learner might grasp the general sense but not the full idiomatic nuance.
Etymology
At the end of one's rope may come from the image of someone climbing or being rescued who reaches the end of the rope, so there is no more support to hold or pull them up. That's why the phrase now means 'having no more patience or strength' and being 'unable to continue'.