tuckered out
Worn out; too tired to do much of anything.
Also called plumb tuckered out, tuckered.
Updated September 24, 2026
tuckered out pronunciation
/TUCK-erd OUT/
Meaning
When you are tuckered out, the day has wrung you dry. Haying, a long drive, chasing kids around the yard. Country talk likes "plumb tuckered out" when even the porch swing looks like hard work. Softer than collapsed, plainer than exhausted.
How folks use it
- “I'm tuckered out after stacking that wood all afternoon.”
- “Those pups played till they were plumb tuckered out.”
Origin and etymology
American slang from the early 1800s. Tucker meaning to tire showed up as New England talk around the 1830s, usually with out. Exact root is murky; some link it to tucked-up animals with drawn-in flanks from hunger or fatigue. The phrase spread west and south and settled deep in rural Southern speech.