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.
Believing the claims of technology promoters that one or another nirvana is just around the corner is a mug’s game.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 6, 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
There will be understandable complaints about that, but second-guessing Clarke's mind is a mug's game.
From BBC ● Nov. 19, 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.
