Hunger Games

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

[edit]

Alternative forms

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

From the titular fictional gladiatorial contests in The Hunger Games, first published in 2008.

Noun

[edit]

Hunger Games (plural Hunger Games)

  1. (neologism) A vicious contest, especially one that is winner-take-all.
    • 2012 December 28, “Jockey James Winks falls prey to the Hunger Games of riding”, in news.com.au[1], archived from the original on 28 December 2012:
    • 2014 September 10, Graeme Virtue, “Who’s Doing the Dishes? is the best daytime TV in years”, in The Guardian[2]:
      If the term “daytime TV” used to be synonymous with slightly ramshackle, undemanding programming attuned to the languid circadian rhythms of hungover students and the retired, it’s now a hyper-competitive arena of mechanical oneupmanship, a Hunger Games for image and sound editors.
    • 2015 May 27, Ursula K Le Guin, “Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf review – happiness at the end of life”, in The Guardian[3]:
      Not playing the hunger games of success, not undergoing the mechanical hoopla of PR, he could go on stubbornly being Kent Haruf, doing his job.
    • 2015 November 9, Nicholas Da Silva, “Registration Week: May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor”, in The Montclarion[4], archived from the original on 4 March 2016:
      “[Registration week] always been The Hunger Games of scheduling,” Valdez said. “You ultimately get in based on timing and luck.”

Anagrams

[edit]