house of cards

noun

1. a structure or plan that is insubstantial and subject to imminent collapse, as a structure made by balancing playing cards against each other.

   The scheme is so overly complicated that it's likely to prove to be just another house of cards.

house of cards

noun

1. a tiered structure created by balancing playing cards on their edges

2. an unstable situation, plan, etc

Word History and Origins

Origin of house of cards¹

First recorded in 1900–05

Idioms and Phrases

A weak and fragile structure, plan, or organization, as in Her scheme to reorganize the school sounds like another house of cards, or Jerry built his entire business on what turned out to be a house of cards. This metaphoric expression alludes to the structure made by balancing playing cards against one another. [First half of 1600s]

Example Sentences

He also claimed it "collapses the house of cards that Tameside is her primary home".

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Nevertheless, South Africa would have been happy with their position heading into the interval only to be blown away like a house of cards in a hurricane.

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You begin to set up this whole logic, even though it’s kind of a house of cards.

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Each “Housewives” series is a rickety house of cards, just waiting for a dramatic gust of wind to implode its structure so it can be rebuilt with the queens and jokers in a different place.

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After that, the constant repetition of clothes and video-making and too many shows — it’s really not good for a person’s emotional house of cards.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• chiffon 
• decrepit 
• feeble 
• insubstantial 
• rickety 
• shaky 
• tacky