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.
It closed that day at $193.60, delivering a prompt lesson that investing in stocks based on claims touted online is a mug’s game.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2025
You are comparing yourself to others, and that’s a mug’s game.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2025
There will be understandable complaints about that, but second-guessing Clarke's mind is a mug's game.
From BBC ● Nov. 19, 2023
Predicting the outcome of national elections can be a mug's game.
From Salon ● Jan. 2, 2023
"I know that game," he said, "and it's a mug's game."
From Dubliners by James Joyce
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.
