feast-or-famine

[ feest-er-fam-in ]

/ ˈfist ərˈfæm ɪn /

Save This Word!

adjective

characterized by alternating, extremely high and low degrees of prosperity, success, volume of business, etc.: artists who lead a feast-or-famine life.

QUIZ

GOOSES. GEESES. I WANT THIS QUIZ ON PLURAL NOUNS!

Test how much you really know about regular and irregular plural nouns with this quiz.

Question 1 of 9

Which of the following nouns has an irregular plural form?

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

How to use feast-or-famine in a sentence

As this list shows, punishments typically run to a short-ish jail sentence and/or a moderately hefty fine.
In Defense of Blasphemy|Michael Tomasky|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
It was known as the feast of Akitu, and it was celebrated in April.
New Year’s Eve, Babylon Style|Candida Moss|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The mythic origin of the feast was the creation of the world by the god Marduk.
New Year’s Eve, Babylon Style|Candida Moss|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Given the somewhat macabre origins of the feast, many of the celebrations were designed to placate the gods.
New Year’s Eve, Babylon Style|Candida Moss|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Winners are solely responsible for any and all federal, state, and local taxes and/or fees that may be incurred.
The Daily Beast Company LLC The New Alphas Sweepstakes Official Rules||December 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In 1205 wheat was worth 12 pence per bushel, which was cheap, as there had been some years of famine previous thereto.
Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham|Thomas T. Harman and Walter Showell
In both cases the decision was made at a feast, and in favour of the one who “loved much.”
Solomon and Solomonic Literature|Moncure Daniel Conway
They were just about to celebrate tabagie, or a solemn feast, over his last farewell.
The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Vol. II: Acadia, 1612-1614|Various
In the spring of 1880 she went again to Paris, only to "feast on things artistic."
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.|Clara Erskine Clement
Death comes in, the bread at the feast turns black, the hound falls down—and so on.
The Wave|Algernon Blackwood

Other Idioms and Phrases with feast-or-famine

feast or famine

Also, either feast or famine. Either too much or too little, too many or too few. For example, Free-lancers generally find it's feast or famine—too many assignments or too few, or Yesterday two hundred showed up at the fair, today two dozen—it's either feast or famine. This expression, which transfers an overabundance or shortage of food to numerous other undertakings, was first recorded in 1732 as feast or fast, the noun famine being substituted in the early 1900s.