Why do I need to know erschöpft?
Although you may have learned a much more common synonym, using a word like erschöpft can make your German sound far more fluent - and this particular word is also something you may feel quite often at the moment, especially during the darker and colder months in Germany.
What does it mean?
Pronounced like this, erschöpft is a word that describes a feeling of complete exhaustion. After a long day at work or university, you're probably used to telling people you're 'Müde', or tired, but erschöpft describes the much stronger sensation of being completely wiped out and wanting nothing more than a long lie down.
The metaphor relates to a verb you may not be familiar with in German: schöpfen, meaning 'to scoop'. Think of it as being so spent that you feel like your entire centre has been scoped out and you're completely devoid of energy.
READ ALSO: German word of the day: Laufen
Another, less formal, way of describing this feeling would be the word 'kaputt', or broken. This is often used to talk about something that's broken in your house, like an old computer, but in informal situations you can also use it to talk about yourself when you're completely done after endless chores or too much work.
As well as talking about your stores of energy, you can also use the word erschöpft to talk about other resources that have been used up - most commonly money. For example, you might say that your savings are completely erschöpft after having something of a blow-out over Christmas.
Use it like this:
Nach der Arbeit war ich so erschöpft, dass ich sofort ins Bett gegangen bin.
I was so exhausted after work that I went straight to bed.
Dieses Jahr kann ich leider kein Urlaub leisten - meine Geldmittel sind total erschöpft.
Unfortunately, I can't afford a holiday this year - my funds are totally wiped out.
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