mug's game
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of mug's game
First recorded in 1905–10
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.
In a 2006 interview with BBC Radio 4, he told Patrick Humphries that he had come to the conclusion that writing was "a mug's game" and he didn't miss it.
From BBC • Mar. 17, 2026
Interpreting stock market returns as snapshots of the economy is a mug’s game.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 27, 2026
You are comparing yourself to others, and that’s a mug’s game.
From MarketWatch • Oct. 14, 2025
Studies also indicate that trying to move deftly from sector to sector is a mug’s game.
From Slate • Feb. 19, 2024
"I reckon bein' on the land is a mug's game; scrapin' like a fool when a feller could be sittin' in an office an' gettin' all they want twice as easy."
From Some Everyday Folk and Dawn by Franklin, Miles
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.
