dead as Hector

English

Etymology

Referencing the story of Hector, a Trojan hero in Greek mythology and a character in Homer's Iliad, who leads the Trojans and their allies in the defense of Troy, and is ultimately killed in single combat by Achilles, who later drags his dead body around the city of Troy behind his chariot.

Adjective

dead as Hector (not comparable)

1. (simile, dated) Unquestionably dead.

   Synonyms: dead as a doornail; see also Thesaurus:dead

   • 1823 July, “Scottish Novels of the Second Class”, in The Edinburgh Magazine and Literary Miscellany, volume 13, Edinburgh: Printed for Archibald Constable and Company, page 4:

     […] if a man, on coming up to his old friend’s cottage, finds the owner staring him in the face over a stile, all the while as dead as Hector,—still the answer is,—“Why, to be sure, all this is rather absurd; but then, Sir, consider the power.”

Related terms

• since Hector was a pup

 

Further reading

• “...as/than Hector” under “hector n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present