look as if one has been dragged through a hedge backwards

English

WOTD – 2 July 2023

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌlʊk‿əz‿ɪf ˈwʌn həz bɪn ˈdɹæɡd θɹuː‿ə hɛd͡ʒ ˈbækwɜːdz/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌlʊk‿əz‿ɪf ˈwʌn həz bɪn ˈdɹæɡd θɹu‿ə hɛd͡ʒ ˈbækwɝdz/
• Hyphenation: look as if one has been dragged through a hedge back‧wards

Verb

look as if one has been dragged through a hedge backwards (third-person singular simple present looks as if one has been dragged through a hedge backwards, present participle looking as if one has been dragged through a hedge backwards, simple past and past participle looked as if one had been dragged through a hedge backwards)

1. (intransitive, British, simile, humorous, informal) To look extremely dishevelled.

   Synonym: look like something the cat dragged in

   • 1865, R. H. Copperthwaite, “Turf Topics”, in The Turf and the Racehorse […], London: Day and Son, […], →OCLC, pages 78–79:

     Bill is right, for I heard him say myself she [a racehorse] couldn't stay; he'd eat her if she won: drawn too fine; was on the go; done too much work; had a bad night, and looked as if she was dragged through a hedge backwards, and hadn't eaten a feed of corn for a month.

   • 1875, Mary Neville, “[A Little Heiress.] Chapter VI. Leaves from an Old Diary.”, in Alice Godolphin and A Little Heiress. Two Stories. […], volume II, London: Samuel Tinsley, […], →OCLC, page 57:

     "Papa wants you in the library," she said, coldly; "but I advise you not to go downstairs till you have smoothed your hair. You look as if you had been dragged through a hedge backwards."

   • 2004, Harry Turner, “High Fashion 1947 Style”, in Growing Up in Fulham: Memories of SW6 1940–1953, London: Janus Publishing Company, published 2006, →ISBN, page 215:

     "I want the waist to be narrow," I told the tailor at Huntsmans, "I don't want to look as if I've been dragged through a hedge backwards."

   • [2018, Brian Luff, Jack and the Magical Beanstalk: A Traditional Family Pantomime, [London]: Fit2Fill, →ISBN, act I, scene ii, page 22:

     Fasten that top button, Kosh. […] And tidy up that bearskin! You look like you've been dragged through a hedge backwards.]

   • [2021 August 18, Martha Cliff, “Hair scare: I spent £500 on ‘princess hair’ – but as soon as I got it wet I looked like I’d been ‘dragged through a hedge backwards’”, in The Sun‎^[1], London: News Group Newspapers, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-11-15:

     A nail technician was mortified after splurging £500 on 'princess hair' only to end up looking like she'd been "dragged through a hedge backwards" – after getting in a hot tub. […] The teen confesses that advice is to avoid chlorinated water, wearing your hair in a bun or sleeping with wet hair after having extensions fitted – and she managed to do all three in one night.]

Usage notes

The term is sometimes used with other words, for example, like instead of as if.

Translations

to look extremely dishevelled

• Finnish: näyttää aivan sotkuiselta
• Galician: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: и́згледа нави́стина неу́редно (ízgleda navístina neúredno)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: please add this translation if you can

  Roman: please add this translation if you can

Further reading

• “look like/as if you’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “look as if you’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.