What it means
Dead on means spot on or exactly right, and it also works as a tidy bit of praise meaning someone’s sound or decent. It’s common up North too, especially around Belfast, where calling a person dead on is basically saying they’re a good sort who won’t mess you about. Use it for answers, plans, directions, or people.
Usage examples
"Met the new neighbour and he’s dead on, lent me a hand with the sofa and wouldn’t take a tenner. Fair play to him."
"Asked the bus driver if I was on the right route home and he was dead on, even radioed his mate to check my stop was running on time tonight."
"Wee Aoife from the office is dead on, covered my shift on Saturday without a fuss and refused the tenner I tried to slip her on Monday morning."
Other ways to say it
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