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.
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
If there’s an enduring truism about corporate promises to do well by doing good, it’s that believing them is a mug’s game.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 9, 2023
Predicting the outcome of national elections can be a mug's game.
From Salon • Jan. 2, 2023
"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.
