dumpster fire

English

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dumpster fire

Wikipedia

Etymology

The figurative sense connotes that things that were already contemptible (as if trash) are now also even worse (as if aflame).

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdʌmpstəˈfaɪ.ə(ɹ)/, /ˈdʌmpstəˈfaɪə(ɹ)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈdʌmpstɚˈfaɪəɹ/

Noun

dumpster fire (plural dumpster fires)

2. (US, slang) A chaotic, unpleasant, unmanageable thing, situation, or person; a disaster.

   Synonyms: shemozzle, tire fire

   • 2015, Michael Cosgrove, Imperfect Passage: A Sailing Story of Vision, Terror, and Redemption:

     As honeymoons go, this was a total dumpster fire.

   • 2015 August 28, Kevin Trahan, “The University of Illinois is a dumpster fire”, in insidenu.com, retrieved 27 October 2016:

     Illinois football and the entire university are in a state of mayhem. . . . Illinois athletics is a dumpster fire right now.

   • 2016 July 7, Sean Sullivan, Philip Rucker, “Trump, seeking GOP unity, has tense meeting with Senate Republicans”, in Washington Post, retrieved 27 October 2016:

     [W]ith these two candidates, this election remains a dumpster fire.

   • 2025 March 2, Michael Sainato, quoting Mark Kelly, “Bernie Sanders dismisses Republicans’ ‘horrific’ calls for Zelenskyy to resign”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:

     “It was a dumpster fire of diplomacy,” Kelly said.

4. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see dumpster,‎ fire.

   The dumpster fire was ruled an arson.

Derived terms

• Trumpster fire

See also

• hot mess
• trash fire
• Appendix:American Dialect Society words of the year

Further reading

• “dumpster fire”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “dumpster fire”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.