mug's game
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of mug's game
First recorded in 1905–10
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In a 2006 interview with BBC Radio 4, he told Patrick Humphries that he had come to the conclusion that writing was "a mug's game" and he didn't miss it.
From BBC • Mar. 17, 2026
Believing the claims of technology promoters that one or another nirvana is just around the corner is a mug’s game.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 6, 2026
You are comparing yourself to others, and that’s a mug’s game.
From MarketWatch • Oct. 14, 2025
Studies also indicate that trying to move deftly from sector to sector is a mug’s game.
From Slate • Feb. 19, 2024
On the whole, I think it's a mug's game.
From The Spinners by Phillpotts, Eden
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
