heavy as a dead donkey
- idiom
- UK
:
pesado como una piedra
- That box looks small, but it's heavy as a dead donkey when you try to pick it up.
Examples
-
The old safe in the basement is heavy as a dead donkey to move by yourself.
-
The suitcase felt heavy as a dead donkey when I tried to lift it.
-
After filling it with books, my bag was heavy as a dead donkey all afternoon.
-
This box is heavy as a dead donkey!
-
When I tried to pick up the old couch, I realized it was heavy as a dead donkey.
-
The rock was heavy as a dead donkey, making it impossible for her to lift alone.
-
Carrying that backpack felt heavy as a dead donkey after hiking for several hours.
Synonyms
812
1.0
A thing that has a lot of weight and is hard to lift
22
6.7
Large, heavy, and difficult to carry or use
6
4.5
Carrying heavy things or having serious worries that make you feel tired
3
4.2
Has more than it can safely hold, for example weight, work, or electricity
2
4.1
Heavy and difficult to lift
1
4.6
Having too much work or responsibility to manage
Carrying a large load, for example snow on branches
Carrying a heavy weight that makes moving slow or hard
Made heavy and hard to move or feeling very tired
Not able to move easily because of heavy things or too many duties
Antonyms
How Heavy
Surface Forms
Morphology
heavy + as + a + dead + donkey
The simile is compositionally derived: it compares something 'heavy' to a 'dead donkey', so a learner who knows 'heavy', 'dead' and 'donkey' can infer an exaggerated extreme weight. This follows common cross‑linguistic animal simile patterns for emphasis, making the intended meaning directly predictable from the parts.
Etymology
The saying heavy as a dead donkey may come from farm life: a dead donkey cannot help itself and must be dragged or lifted by people, so it is very hard to move. That's why the phrase means 'extremely heavy' or 'very difficult to lift'.