booby prize

American  

noun

1. a prize given in good-natured ridicule to the worst player or team in a game or contest.

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booby prize British  

noun

1. a mock prize given to the person having the lowest score or giving the worst performance in a competition

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Etymology

Origin of booby prize

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

booby prize

Croatia embraced the match in 2022 despite having gone one better in 2018 when they were runners-up to France - though Morocco head coach Walid Regragui described it as a "booby prize".

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

I really appreciate it in the book that you were not going to talk about becoming the "wise, sage woman" like it's some kind of booby prize.

From Salon ● May 6, 2023

Perhaps, though, if the government ultimately gets to keep Bolton’s profits, it will all eventually add up to a ridiculous booby prize for the whole country.

From Slate ● Jun. 16, 2020

I think that the situation is exactly the opposite, and that a “diminished” girl does not go running through the town, under so many horse noses, to find a booby prize.

From The New Yorker ● Aug. 20, 2018

As Buster Brown afterward stated, "Neither one would take the booby prize at a beauty show, but at that, the bulldog had a better chance than Bildad!"

From T. Haviland Hicks Senior by Elderdice, J. Raymond