kaput
adjective
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Kaput originated with a card game called piquet that has been popular in France for centuries. French players originally used the term capot to describe both big winners and big losers in piquet. To win all twelve tricks in a hand was called "faire capot" ("to make capot"), but to lose them all was known as "être capot" ("to be capot"). German speakers adopted capot, but respelled it kaputt, and used it only for losers. When English speakers borrowed the word from German, they started using kaput for things that were broken, useless, or destroyed.
Synonyms
- dead
- done
- done for
- doomed
- finished
- ruined
- sunk
Example Sentences
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 Word History
German kaputt, from French capot not having made a trick at piquet
1895, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Phrases Containing kaput
kaput
adjective
Synonyms & Similar Words
- doomed
- ruined
- done
- sunk
- endangered
- finished
- dead
- done for
- imperiled
- imperilled
Synonyms & Similar Words
- obsolete
- archaic
- defunct
- extinct
- passé
- moribund
- outmoded
- rusty
- outdated
- antiquated
- superannuated
- outworn
- dated
- discarded
- medieval
- vanished
- démodé
- prehistoric
- fossilized
- useless
- neolithic
- expired
- demoded
- mossy
- dormant
- out-of-date
- unusable
- inoperative
- aging
- inoperable
- obsolescent
- Stone Age
- prehistorical
- moth-eaten
- mediaeval
- unworkable
- disused
- inactive
- fallow
- dead
- old
- inert
- Noachian
- late
- venerable
- idle
- ageing
- erstwhile
- ancient
- antediluvian
- historical
- latent
- past
- free
- fusty
- historic
- former
- antique
- hoary
- retro
- vintage
- bygone
- aged
- musty
- dateless
- oldfangled
- atavistic
- old-fashioned
- old-time
- age-old
- old-world
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- new
- current
- modern
- newfangled
- recent
- ultramodern
- contemporary
- mod
- fresh
- renewed
- modernized
- functioning
- operational
- new-fashioned
- functional
- operating
- workable
- operable
- refurbished
- operative
- alive
- up-to-the-minute
- up-to-date
- employed
- remodeled
- active
- busy
- present-day
Synonyms & Similar Words
- malfunctioning
- down
- inoperative
- inoperable
- nonfunctioning
- nonfunctional
- off
- nonoperating
- broken
- out of commission
- on the fritz
- unusable
- useless
- on the blink
- deactivated
- unworkable
- deadlocked
- ineffective
- ineffectual
- unproductive
- nonproductive
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- functioning
- operating
- operational
- operative
- working
- functional
- viable
- running
- operable
- useful
- effective
- usable
- workable
- productive
- producing
- operant
- serving
- effectual
- useable
- performing
- employable