fair game

noun

1. a legitimate or likely object of attack, mockery, etc.:

   With his fat, round face, the politician was fair game for the cartoonists.

fair game

noun

1. a legitimate object for ridicule or attack
2. archaic.
   hunting quarry that may legitimately be pursued according to the rules of a particular sport

Word History and Origins

Origin of fair game¹

First recorded in 1795–1805

Idioms and Phrases

A legitimate target for attack or ridicule. For example, On his talk show, authors are considered fair game . This expression alludes to hunting. [Early 1800s]

Example Sentences

He’s made clear that isn’t the only consideration, but it’s notable he’s talking about it in those terms and agrees it’s fair game for him to keep an eye on who’s going to replace him.

From Washington Post

If nations decide that satellites are fair game for military attacks, it will likely benefit whoever attacks first, even as it risks nuclear miscalculation below.

From Popular-Science

Customer reviews praise it for its fair games and instant deposits.

From Washington Blade

There’s no process that decides what AI-hiring tools are fair game… And anyone can bring any tool to market.

From MIT Technology Review

“Anything the president does that we believe to be illegal is fair game,” Miller told the Wall Street Journal.

From Washington Post

Parodies, on the other hand, are fair game to be discussed and shared.

From The Daily Beast

And as his stunned neighbors in Normandy might tell you, even allegedly nice guys are fair game.

From The Daily Beast

As long as the reporter does not misrepresent himself and does not attempt to conceal a recording device, the event is fair game.

From The Daily Beast

Wardrobe, mannerisms, and intonation are fair game, and Chu certainly has his detractors there.

From The Daily Beast

“Any of her teen children with a license were fair game to recruit as well,” her son, Thomas, would say in his eulogy.

From The Daily Beast

Radiation tabs protected the UN troops, but if a man lost his tab he was fair game for the claws, no matter what his uniform.

From Project Gutenberg

Yet the status of aunt is always fair game to the humourist; and especially so when she is the aunt of somebody else.

From Project Gutenberg

The crows regard them as fair game, hence their nest-building season is a time of sturm und drang.

From Project Gutenberg

This was fair game enough, though to-day it would probably have been passed over in silence.

From Project Gutenberg

Good-looking enough in a fashion, and plays a fair game, but a stiff, reserved kind of beggar.

From Project Gutenberg