From NPR
Last year, Consumer Reports did a survey of thousands of U.S. flyers. Spirit finished dead last. In fact, Consumer Reports said Spirit's rating was among the lowest of any company they've ever rated.
I know that finish last means wind up as the last position in a race, competition etc. But What's the meaning of dead in the middle of the two words? After looking up the dictionary, I found that dead could be mean completely. So does the sentence implicate that Spirit not only finished last, but also was far behind other companies?
Best Answer
By itself, the expression might mean "in last place, far behind the competition," or it could simply mean, "in last place, behind all other competitors."
In this context, the word dead is used for emphasis, as if declare, "Not just near the bottom, but at the bottom."
You might ask, "Doesn't the word last imply that on its own already?" Yes, it does! However, the expression dead last is still used rather often – even if it is sometimes a tad redundant.
(Excellent question, by the way.)