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Glite Dictionary
to die a thousand deaths

to die a thousand deaths

1 8.6
To feel very afraid or worried many times
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : morir de mil muertes
  • A coward dies a thousand deaths, the brave but once.
  • I would rather die a thousand deaths

Examples

  • The kid is dying a thousand deaths of humiliation.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • I used to be so afraid of everything; it was like dying a thousand deaths a day.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • A coward dies a thousand deaths.

    Solar Crisis (1992)

  • " A coward dies a thousand deaths, a hero?

    Blog text (1)

  • The kid is dying a thousand deaths of humiliation.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • When I had to give a speech in front of the class, I felt like I would die a thousand deaths from embarrassment.

  • Every time he sends me an angry email, I die a thousand deaths worrying about my job.

  • Trying to confront my fear of heights made me die a thousand deaths as I climbed the ladder.

Synonyms

to die
vsto die a thousand deaths
  • Informal
370 8.1

To feel very embarrassed or laugh a lot

focuses on repeated or extreme anxiety and fear rather than other emotions
to scare someone to death
vsto die a thousand deaths
  • Informal
59 3.7

To frighten someone very much

is an internal often repeated experience of intense fear or distress

Antonyms

to calm
962 1.0

Make a person or animal less upset

at ease
106 1.7

Being comfortable and relaxed, not nervous or worried

How Anxious

to die a thousand deaths
  • Informal
1 8.6
to panic
272 2.3
to fear
∞ 1.0
to worry
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

die a thousand deaths infinitive
died a thousand deaths past
died a thousand deaths past participle
dying a thousand deaths present participle
dies a thousand deaths third person singular

Morphology

die + a + thousand + death

The phrase is a hyperbolic, metaphorical extension of the literal parts: a learner who knows 'die' and 'thousand' can infer an idea of extreme intensity or repeated suffering, but the specific conventional meaning (extreme anxiety/embarrassment/distress) is not fully predictable from the constituents alone. Cross-linguistic parallels of death-based hyperbole make the general sense accessible, yet the idiomatic usage and nuance require prior exposure, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

The idiom die a thousand deaths may come from the image of someone who seems to die again and again from great fear or shame, with 'a thousand' showing how powerful the feeling is. That's why it means 'to feel extreme fear or worry'.