Health / B1

ig-ZORST-id/ɪɡˈzɔːstɪd/

Exhausted means extremely tired: exhausted after a night shift; mentally exhausted. Tired is weaker; shattered is informal UK. Exhausting describes the thing that makes you tired (an exhausting day). Exhaust (noun) is car fumes — different word family in everyday talk. Do not write “I am exhausting” when you mean you have no energy — that says you make other people tired.

Meaning

Extremely tired, with no energy left.

Examples

• “After the night shift she was too exhausted to cook.”
• “They were exhausted by the time the last patient left A&E.”
• “Marking two hundred scripts in a weekend is exhausting.”

Good to know

Person: exhausted. Cause: exhausting. Weaker: tired. Informal UK: shattered. Not car exhaust unless you mean fumes.

Near in meaning

tired, shattered

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