variants
also kaputt
1
as in doomed
facing certain defeat, disaster, or death
once the Germans were forced to retreat from Stalingrad, the Nazi cause was kaput
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in obsolete
having passed its time of use or usefulness
hard-line Soviet-style Communism became kaput in Russia
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in malfunctioning
not being in working order
the heating system went kaput on the coldest day of the year
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of kaput
Now all three of those competitors are kaput, felled by runs on deposits during the biggest banking crisis in a decade and a half.
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Rob Copeland, New York Times, 14 June 2023
The Stooges are now functionally kaput—of the original lineup, only Pop is left.
—Amanda Petrusich, The New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2019
At least not on Sunday afternoon, nearly a full two days after the Clippers were supposed to be done, finished, as kaput as the Kings – those in Sacramento and Los Angeles.
—Jeff Miller, Orange County Register, 29 Apr. 2017
The damages for that less-than-brilliant marketing idea could be as much as $120 million, meaning the company as a whole is pretty much financially kaput.
—Susan Arendt, WIRED, 14 Mar. 2007
Rob Copeland, New York Times, 14 June 2023
The Stooges are now functionally kaput—of the original lineup, only Pop is left.
—Amanda Petrusich, The New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2019
At least not on Sunday afternoon, nearly a full two days after the Clippers were supposed to be done, finished, as kaput as the Kings – those in Sacramento and Los Angeles.
—Jeff Miller, Orange County Register, 29 Apr. 2017
The damages for that less-than-brilliant marketing idea could be as much as $120 million, meaning the company as a whole is pretty much financially kaput.
—Susan Arendt, WIRED, 14 Mar. 2007
Recent Examples of Synonyms for kaput
Adjective
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New industries emerged, new roles were created, and while some jobs became obsolete, new opportunities arose.Timothy Papandreou, Forbes, 15 Jan. 2025
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Shredders undoubtedly provide the most energy-efficient and environmentally responsible method to supply large volumes of obsolete metal as a raw material for the manufacture of new products.Steve Joseph, Chicago Tribune, 10 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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That led various departments to buy archaic typewriters, 28 kinds of typewriter ribbons, and 132 kinds of pencils.Bruce W. Dearstyne / Made by History, TIME, 13 Jan. 2025
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In the immediate aftermath of the event, it was reported (including here and here and here), and then spread widely on social media, that this was because Southwest was still using an archaic version of Microsoft Windows that had never received the problematic CrowdStrike update.Suzanne Rowan Kelleher, Forbes, 4 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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December also was atypically a down month for the market.Sarah Min, CNBC, 8 Jan. 2025
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In down markets, the best opportunities often hide in plain sight.Cody Bjugan, Forbes, 8 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Digital Currency Group, the crypto firm founded by Barry Silbert, and the former executive of a defunct unit are paying the SEC $38.5 million for misleading investors.MacKenzie Sigalos, CNBC, 17 Jan. 2025
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Bush chose Moody a year later to serve on the Board of Regents, the defunct governing body for the state’s university system.Dan Sullivan, Miami Herald, 17 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Perhaps most notably, both sides deploy decoy vehicles—either inoperative derelicts or inflatable fakes—to draw enemy fire away from real vehicles.David Axe, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2024
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In wartime, however, the calculus changes, because most of the costs are inoperative.William C. Wohlforth, Foreign Affairs, 22 June 2021
Adjective
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The sunk cost fallacy, for example, can lead companies to continue investing in maintaining a physical office space, despite the benefits of remote work.Dr. Gleb Tsipursky, Forbes, 6 Feb. 2023
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The sunk cost fallacy is a bias that behavioral economists say can cause a person to stick with a losing investment.Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 22 Mar. 2022
Adjective
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The incident left the train inoperable, though none of the 47 passengers on board were injured, KIRO reported.Mary Gilbert, CNN, 20 Nov. 2024
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Israel’s bombardment of the region has since rendered two thirds of its hospitals inoperable and driven almost two million Palestinians from their homes.Saima S. Iqbal, Scientific American, 26 Sep. 2024
Adjective
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For now, most are experimenting on other sites, but also continuing to post on the endangered platform.Jacob Feldman, Sportico.com, 14 Jan. 2025
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Hegseth, a former Fox News host with scant management experience in the military or in the private sector, is considered among the most endangered of Trump’s Cabinet choices.Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 14 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Kaput.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kaput. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.
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