Every day, 1 in 3 adults say they are “very tired.” A 2023 study from the National Sleep Foundation found that more than 40 % of people feel this way at least three times a week. When we are very tired, we often use short, colorful phrases called idioms to show how we feel. This article lists 30 of the most common idioms for tiredness. The idioms are grouped into four parts: short idioms (like “bag-brain”), longer idioms (like “leaves in late October”), idioms from books (like “dust-dry quill”), and everyday idioms (like “mossy eyelids”). Each idiom is explained in very easy words and comes with a clear example. By the end, you will know exactly what each idiom means and how to use it.
Short Idioms For Tired
Bag-brain
Meaning: Mind feels like a crumpled grocery sack.
Example: After the exam he had bag-brain.
Blunt battery
Meaning: Energy drained to zero.
Example: The hikers became blunt batteries by dusk.
Grain-gone
Meaning: Last bit of strength used.
Example: She was grain-gone after the double shift.
Flat flame
Meaning: Motivation extinguished.
Example: The coder hit flat flame at 3 a.m.
Extended Idioms for Tired
Leaves in late October
Meaning: Energy falling like autumn foliage.
Example: By Friday the interns were leaves in late October.
Paper-crane spine
Meaning: Back folded from long sitting.
Example: Drivers finish the haul with paper-crane spine.
Rusted metronome
Meaning: Body rhythm slows and sticks.
Example: The pianist felt a rusted metronome after six encores.
Snow-melt focus
Meaning: Concentration dissolving.
Example: Night guards get snow-melt focus by 4 a.m.
Idioms for Tired in Literature
Dust-dry quill
Meaning: Writer’s hand too weary to continue.
Example: Milton wrote till dust-dry quill stopped him.
Marble-mouth moon
Meaning: Speaker drowsy under night sky.
Example: Coleridge’s sailor cursed the marble-mouth moon.
Tallow-thin wick
Meaning: Lamp of attention nearly out.
Example: Kafka’s clerk burned a tallow-thin wick.
Velvet blackout
Meaning: Sudden complete fatigue.
Example: Woolf’s hostess met velvet blackout mid-sentence.
Idioms For Tired
Silted gears
Meaning: Thoughts move like clogged machinery.
Example: Night shift nurses show silted gears at dawn.
Crimped cable
Meaning: Nerves too tight to spark.
Example: Coders with crimped cable miss syntax errors.
Mossy eyelids
Meaning: Heavy, gritty lids.
Example: Truckers fight mossy eyelids on empty highways.
Thimbled pulse
Meaning: Heartbeat faint and fast from exhaustion.
Example: Marathoners cross with thimbled pulse.
Crumb battery
Meaning: Only scraps of energy remain.
Example: Parents run on crumb battery by bedtime.
Pumice skin
Meaning: Face feels rough, dry, lifeless.
Example: Red-eye flyers land with pumice skin.
Scissor legs
Meaning: Limbs stiff and jerky.
Example: Security guards patrol with scissor legs at 2 a.m.
Tarnished lens
Meaning: Vision blurry from strain.
Example: Gamers end night with tarnished lens.
Pocket-watch pause
Meaning: Brief microsleep standing.
Example: Surgeons fight pocket-watch pause during long ops.
Shucked corn
Meaning: Body stripped of layers of alertness.
Example: Waitstaff leave shift like shucked corn.
Wickless candle
Meaning: Person without remaining drive.
Example: Grad students turn wickless candle before thesis defense.
Iron-wool tongue
Meaning: Mouth dry, taste metallic.
Example: Dehydrated climbers have iron-wool tongue.
Bent pin focus
Meaning: Attention warped, off target.
Example: Air-traffic controllers get bent pin focus after 10 hours.
Peat-bog brain
Meaning: Mind thick, slow, heavy.
Example> Accountants slog through peat-bog brain near tax deadline.
Varnished yawn
Meaning: Fake alertness covering real fatigue.
Example> Call-center agents paint on varnished yawn.
Crushed tin voice
Meaning: Speech low, rasping.
Example> Coaches end day with crushed tin voice.
Broom-straw nerves
Meaning: Irritable, fragile temper.
Example> New parents display broom-straw nerves at 4 a.m.
Netted light
Meaning: Vision dim, as if looking through mesh.
Example> Night drivers see netted light before microsleep.
Dented drum
Meaning: Heartbeat irregular and dull.
Example> Firefighters exit blaze with dented drum.
Glass-sand joints
Meaning> Knees and elbows grind with weariness.
Example> Warehouse workers feel glass-sand joints after 12 hours.
Chalk-dust mind
Meaning: Thoughts dry, crumbly, incoherent.
Example> Professors finish lectures in chalk-dust mind.
Rubber-tube limbs
Meaning: Arms and legs limp, unresponsive.
Example> Swimmers crawl out with rubber-tube limbs.
Fogged gauge
Meaning: Internal energy meter unreadable.
Example> Pilots report fogged gauge on red-eye flights.
Pressed flower stamina
Meaning: Vitality flattened and preserved but inactive.
Example> Ultrarunners hit pressed flower stamina at mile 90.
Porcelain yawn
Meaning: Wide, fragile, cracking-open fatigue.
Example> Nurses stifle porcelain yawn during rounds.
Knotted thread focus
Meaning: Concentration snarled, unusable.
Example> Editors lose knotted thread focus after midnight.
Crisp-paper skin
Meaning> Skin feels thin, dry, ready to tear.
Example> ICU staff develop crisp-paper skin by day 3.
Muted mettle
Meaning: Inner resolve silenced by exhaustion.
Example> Soldiers on 48-hour watch show muted mettle.
QUIZ_START
Quiz: idioms for Tired
1. What does the idiom “Bag-brain” mean?
A. Hungry for food
B. Mind feels like a crumpled grocery sack
C. Ready to play a game
D. Full of bright ideas
Correct answer: B
2. Which sentence best shows the meaning of “Blunt battery”?
A. She packed extra snacks.
B. The hikers became blunt batteries by dusk.
C. They took a group photo.
D. The sun set early.
Correct answer: B
3. If someone is “Grain-gone,” what has happened?
A. They lost some rice.
B. They used their last bit of strength.
C. They planted seeds.
D. They cooked dinner.
Correct answer: B
4. “Flat flame” describes a person whose __________ has been extinguished.
A. hunger
B. motivation
C. candle
D. voice
Correct answer: B
5. What do “Leaves in late October” compare tired people to?
A. Flowers in spring
B. Snow in winter
C. Falling autumn leaves
D. Rain in summer
Correct answer: C
6. When long-distance drivers finish a haul with “paper-crane spine,” their backs feel __________.
A. straight and strong
B. folded and stiff
C. warm and relaxed
D. quick and light
Correct answer: B
7. Which idiom from literature describes a writer’s hand too weary to continue writing?
A. Dust-dry quill
B. Marble-mouth moon
C. Tallow-thin wick
D. Velvet blackout
Correct answer: A
8. A nurse fighting “mossy eyelids” at dawn is struggling with __________.
A. itchy hands
B. heavy, gritty eyelids
C. cold feet
D. loud noises
Correct answer: B
9. If marathoners finish with a “thimbled pulse,” their heartbeat is __________.
A. loud and strong
B. faint and fast
C. missing
D. slow and steady
Correct answer: B
10. What does “Wickless candle” mean?
A. A lamp that is too bright
B. A person without remaining drive
C. A new candle just lit
D. A candle that smells nice
Correct answer: B
