Hunger Games

English

Alternative forms

• hunger game
• Hunger Game
• hunger games

Etymology

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

Noun

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]:
   • 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]:

     “[Registration week] always been The Hunger Games of scheduling,” Valdez said. “You ultimately get in based on timing and luck.”

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