dead-end

1 of 3

adjective

ˈded-ˌend 

1

a

: lacking opportunities especially for advancement

a dead-end job

b

: lacking an exit

a dead-end street

2

: unruly

dead-end kids

dead-endedness

ˌded-ˈen-dəd-nəs 

noun

dead-end

2 of 3

verb

ˈded-ˈend 

dead-ended; dead-ending; dead-ends

intransitive verb

: to come to a dead end : terminate

the road dead-ends at the lake

the investigation dead-ended

dead end

3 of 3

noun

ˈded-ˈend 

1

: an end (as of a street) without an exit

2

: a position, situation, or course of action that leads to nothing further

Synonyms

Verb

• break off
• break up
• cease
• close
• conclude
• determine
• die
• discontinue
• elapse
• end
• expire
• finish
• go
• halt
• lapse
• leave off
• let up
• pass
• quit
• stop
• terminate
• wind up
• wink (out)

Examples of dead-end in a Sentence

Verb

after several fruitless years, the research seems to have simply dead-ended

Noun

We came to a dead end and had to turn around.

My career has hit a dead end.

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

In this slyly self-aware and gently comic novel, a twenty-four-year-old college dropout, Vi, who is stuck in a dead-end job and getting over a bad breakup, discovers a blob on the ground outside a dive bar. —The New Yorker, 3 Feb. 2025

President loves making deals but there is no deal to be had with Iran on its nuclear program, just dead-end negotiations. —Michael Makovsky and John Hannah, Newsweek, 3 Feb. 2025

Verb

Where any normal car would need a three-point turn (down yet another dead-end Camden side street, for instance), the taxi simply spins around and goes. —Tim Pitt, Robb Report, 15 Mar. 2023

Commissioner Andrew Brink said without a street connection to the east, the roundabout effectively will dead-end within the development. —Stacy Ryburn, Arkansas Online, 14 Mar. 2023

Noun

That is a dead end if an actor lets one AI robot manipulate his or her performance even a little bit, an inch will eventually become a mile and all integrity, purity and truth of art will be replaced by financial interests only. —Pat Saperstein, Variety, 3 Feb. 2025

The more people get vaccinated, the more risk falls for the population as a whole, because diseases encounter more dead ends and infections spread less readily. —Lauren Leffer, Popular Science, 30 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1919, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1944, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1886, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

dead-end

1 of 2 adjective

ˌded-ˌend

1

a

: having no opportunities for advancement

a dead-end job

b

: lacking an exit

dead-end street

2

: unruly

dead-end kids

dead end

2 of 2 noun

: an end (as of a street) without an exit