dead ringer
9
7.4
- noun
- /dɛd ˈrɪŋər/
- Informal
:
doble
- You're a dead ringer for an officer I used to know in the submarine service.
The detective who has been assigned to the case happens to be a dead ringer, no pun intended for the dead girl.
- The detective who has been assigned to the case happens to be a dead ringer, no pun intended for the dead girl.
Examples
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Mine is a dead ringer for her!
Blog text (18) -
Listen, he's a dead ringer for Crisp.
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Actually, he's a dead ringer for you when you were a baby.
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- He's a dead ringer for me.
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She's a dead ringer for her.
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Is she a dead ringer for Nina?
Blog text (25) -
Besides, you're a dead ringer for Devon.
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Are my eyes deceiving me or are you two dead ringers for the Olsen twins?
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Dustin Hoffman's character was a dead ringer for real-life producer Robert Evans.
Blog text (21) -
When I saw her at the party, I couldn't believe she was a dead ringer for my old friend from college.
Synonyms
106
1.2
An object that is an exact copy of another
75
4.7
A person who stands in for another, often in movies
57
5.6
A person who is very like another in look or actions
31
3.8
A person who looks or acts very like another person
16
3.7
A person or thing that looks exactly like another one
16
7.5
A person who looks very much like another person but is not related
9
3.5
A person or thing that looks very similar to another, often a famous person
7
9.8
A ghostly double of a living person, often seen as a bad sign
3
3.0
Exactly the same as another thing
Antonyms
How Similar
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'an exact double' is directly derivable from 'dead' used as an intensifier meaning 'completely/exactly' plus 'ringer' meaning 'a lookalike' or double. This adjective + noun composition follows a transparent semantic pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can reasonably infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The noun dead ringer may come from old horse racing. One popular story says dishonest people would enter a fast horse called a ringer as a 'substitute', and the word dead was used to mean 'exact', so a dead ringer is someone who is an 'exact double' of another person.