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car-crash TV

British  

noun

  1. television programmes that show deliberately controversial, disturbing, or horrific material

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of car-crash TV

C20: from their eliciting in the viewer a similar horrified fascination to that experienced by people watching scenes of cars crashing

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.

At the same time, you watch it slightly willing people to fail, because car-crash TV appeals to us all at some level.

From The Guardian • Aug. 17, 2012

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.