washed up

See also: washed-up

English

Alternative forms

• washed-up

Adjective

washed up (comparative more washed up, superlative most washed up)

1. (informal, of a performer) Well past their prime and no longer successful; having no future in a particular role.

   Synonym: (slang) washed

   Pavarotti's washed up as a singer, in my view.

   • 2012 June 3, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Mr. Plow” (season 4, episode 9; originally aired 11/19/1992)”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎^[1]:

     It would be difficult, for example, to imagine a bigger, more obvious subject for comedy than the laughable self-delusion of washed-up celebrities, especially if the washed-up celebrity in question is Adam West, a camp icon who can go toe to toe with William Shatner as the king of winking self-parody.

   • 2019 December 10, Yacht Club Games, "Story" (Reize), in Shovel Knight Showdown (version 4.1), Nintendo Switch:

     Reize: 'WHOA! ARE YOU FOR REAL, MISTER? [...] AND YOU EVEN GOT A BELT WITH YOUR NAME ON IT?! THE BAZ... I KNEW IT! YOU MUST BE A NOBLE WARRIOR!' / Baz: 'PSHHH. SCRAM, KID. I'M JUST A NOBODY. I'M ALL WASHED UP. IT JUST AIN'T MY DAY.'

   • 2025 December 22, Anna Silman, “This Is the Year Millennials Officially Got Old”, in The New York Times‎^[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:

     No matter how much we tried, we were going to look washed-up.

     (Can we archive this URL?)

   • 2026 February 16, Frank Bruni, quoting Pam Bondi, “Pam Bondi and the MAGA Brand of Insult Politics”, in The New York Times‎^[3], →ISSN:

     “Washed-up, loser lawyer!” That’s for Representative Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland. What the phrase lacks in poetry it makes up for in pithiness.

Related terms

• over the hill

Translations

having no future

• Galician: acabado
• German: am Ende, fertig (de), erledigt (de)
• Greek: ξοφλημένος (el) (xofliménos)
• Māori: tūnguru
• Polish: skończony (pl), wykończony (pl)
• Swedish: avdankad (sv)

Verb

washed up

1. simple past and past participle of wash up