1
: the unrelieved weight of an inert mass
2
3
: a ship's load including the total weight of cargo, fuel, stores, crew, and passengers
Examples of deadweight in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
But Iggy Azalea is deadweight on the song, with her blaccent and school-assignment-level rhymes.
—
Justin Curto, Vulture, 8 Mar. 2024
What’s your prognosis for the season? 2023 was an anomaly of deadweight contracts and injuries crashing into a youth movement.
—Daniel Kohn, SPIN, 27 Mar. 2024
The benefit is the removal of intermediaries and all the inefficiency and deadweight losses therein.
—Korok Ray, Forbes, 15 Feb. 2024
With 12 tackles, 1.5 tackles for a loss, a sack and two quarterback hurries, Asante played hero ball Saturday night as Auburn leaned on its defense with deadweight as the Tigers’ offense sputtered.
—Ainslie Lee | Alee@al.com, al, 12 Sep. 2023
See all Example Sentences for deadweight 
Justin Curto, Vulture, 8 Mar. 2024
What’s your prognosis for the season? 2023 was an anomaly of deadweight contracts and injuries crashing into a youth movement.
—Daniel Kohn, SPIN, 27 Mar. 2024
The benefit is the removal of intermediaries and all the inefficiency and deadweight losses therein.
—Korok Ray, Forbes, 15 Feb. 2024
With 12 tackles, 1.5 tackles for a loss, a sack and two quarterback hurries, Asante played hero ball Saturday night as Auburn leaned on its defense with deadweight as the Tigers’ offense sputtered.
—Ainslie Lee | Alee@al.com, al, 12 Sep. 2023
See all Example Sentences for deadweight
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'deadweight.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Deadweight.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deadweight. Accessed 26 Jul. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
deadweight
noun
dead·weight
ˈded-ˈwāt 
: the full weight of a mass that is not moving
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