Synonyms

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

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for the birds

He took a boat and 87 steep steps to reach a puffin colony on Skomer Island off the west coast of Wales, where he had to wait for two hours for the birds to arrive.

From BBC ● May 8, 2026

The idea this is or was a "private matter" is for the birds.

From BBC ● Feb. 19, 2026

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

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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