house of cards
Americannoun
noun
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a tiered structure created by balancing playing cards on their edges
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an unstable situation, plan, etc
Etymology
Origin of house of cards
First recorded in 1900–05
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.
If this was a crime of passion, it was meticulously laid out, but eventually it was exposed as a cold and calculating house of cards that came crashing down.
From BBC • Mar. 23, 2026
Let’s hope that we can knock over that house of cards with peace walks and other forms of calm, resolute resistance.
From Salon • Feb. 13, 2026
Every time OpenAI wants to spend money, Windsor said, it needs to raise money — “and it only takes one investment round to go badly for the whole house of cards to fall.”
From MarketWatch • Feb. 5, 2026
This week: Volatility in the Japanese bond market is threatening the global trade house of cards.
From Slate • Jan. 31, 2026
On one of the desks, someone has stacked brochures for subdivisions into a singlestory house of cards.
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
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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.