kiss of death

noun phrase

: something (such as an act or association) ultimately causing ruin

The movie has a G rating, which is almost a kiss of death. Last year, fewer than 2% of new films were rated G, and nearly all of those were animated.

—Sports Illustrated

—usually used with the

Not long ago, when I proposed to my agent that she champion a book of mine as a work of literature instead of trying to present it as a "Sixties memoir," she told me, with a rueful laugh, that in publishing circles nowadays the "L" word is the kiss of death.

—Joel Agee

… a faraway region whose populations are so deeply anti-Western that any government cooperation with America can be the kiss of death …

—Alan Tonelson

Examples of kiss of death in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Sharing a bed can be a kiss of death for bandmates, but not for Marcus and Jean Baylor. —Keyaira Boone, Essence, 2 Feb. 2024

There was a time when scandal, the whiff of scandal, or even a simple gaffe was the kiss of death for a presidential candidacy. —ABC News, 3 Sep. 2023

But making deposits, rather than buying stock, was a kiss of death, instantly producing a junk credit ranking. —Laurence Kotlikoff, Forbes, 18 Apr. 2023

That, to me, was the kiss of death. —Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 12 Apr. 2023

Word History

Etymology

from the kiss with which Judas betrayed Jesus (Mark 14:44–46)

First Known Use

1943, in the meaning defined above