Phrases & SayingsWork, bush and rural life
crook as Rookwood
Also: as crook as Rookwood
Very ill or in very poor condition.
In a sentence
In this historical or contextual use, “crook as Rookwood” means very ill or in very poor condition.
Where it came from
Macquarie identifies the phrase as an Australian development from crook, using Sydney's Rookwood Cemetery as the comic rhyme/reference.
- Initial era
- 1800–1899
- Where used
- New South Wales origin; wider use