for the birds

Cultural

Worthless: “The last scheme you came up with was really for the birds.”

for the birds Idioms

Worthless, not to be taken seriously, no good. For example, This conference is for the birds—let's leave now. This term has been said to allude to horse droppings from which birds would extract seeds. This seemingly fanciful theory is borne out by a more vulgar version of this idiom, shit for the birds. [Slang; first half of 1900s]

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.

As for the birds, we have no advice.

From Barron's • Nov. 25, 2025

One major factor in this decline is competition with local fisheries that catch sardines and anchovies, which are essential prey for the birds.

From Science Daily • Nov. 17, 2025

"They formed the basis for many of these habitats, in terms of food for the birds or for smaller mammals, or even the lizards that we find up there," he added.

From BBC • Apr. 11, 2025

There’s still beauty and interest in the garden with dried stalks and seed pods providing food for the birds and other animals.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 8, 2024

It was very dull for the birds in jail.

From "Mr. Popper's Penguins" by Florence Atwater and Richard Atwater

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

for the birds

Example Sentences

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