clusterfuck en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈklʌs.təˌfʌk/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (Australia) audio
- /ˈklʌs.tɚˌfʌk/ (US)
Etymology
From cluster + fuck. Reportedly coined by Hippie poet Ed Sanders as Mongolian Cluster Fuck. First attested in c. 1965 in East Village Other.
Meanings
-
(idiomatic, slang, vulgar) A chaotic situation where everything seems to go wrong, often caused by communication failure, a complex environment, or incompetence.
[…] and you will still only begin to get a sense of the constitutionally mandated clusterfuck that is the modern presidency.
2004, Jon Stewart, America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide To Democracy Inaction:1989: P. J. O'Rourke, Holidays in Hell "Mongolian Cluster Fuck" is the technical term journalists use for a preplanned, wholly scripted, news-free event.
Please note also my request that henceforth I wish to be reminded of the possibility of a clusterfuck in any contingency plan or operations proposal […]
1995, John Barnes, Mother of Storms:My cousin was in the Army over here in '68. He says don't trust anybody to know what they're doing, calls it a cluster-fuck. Fucked-up-beyond-all-repair, FUBAR he says.
2004, Ray Kopp, Thunder in the Night: A Sailor's Perspective on Vietnam, →ISBN, page 87:[Colonel Meyers:] That's for sure. What's your assessment of this exercise? [Highway:] It's a cluster fuck.
1986, Clint Eastwood, Heartbreak Ridge, IMDB tt0091187:[CIA-Superior:] Okay. Okay. If he wakes up we'll worry about it then. Jesus, what a clusterfuck.
2008, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Burn After Reading, IMDB tt0887883A simple sweep-and-clear turned into a total clusterfuck: T-Bird, trying to explain to Eric how the situation escalated on Devil's Night […]
1994, James O'Barr, Alex Proyas, The Crow:2013: Barbara Kruger: What a ridiculous clusterfuck of totally uncool jokers. I make my work about this kind of sadly foolish farce. I’m waiting for all of them to sue me for copyright infringement in response to the Supreme v Married To The Mob battle
It was a clusterfuck, a deadly clusterfuck. When the doughs finally got off the ground in some numbers and charged into the woods, the Krauts broke contact […]
2005, Charles W. Sasser, Patton's Panthers: The African-American 761st Tank Battalion in World War II:They had a name for something like this in the army—a cluster fuck. Yes. Good name. ... He was sitting here in the middle of a great big cluster fuck
1990, Stephen King, Dark Half, →ISBN, page 151:
- (slang, uncommon, vulgar) A sexual orgy.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| clusterfucks | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| cluster fuck | alternative | lexicographic | |
| cluster-fuck | alternative | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Charlie Foxtrot · fustercluck · clusterbumble · clusterfucked · clusterball · clusterbùrach · clusterfuckery · cluster · CF
Synonyms
omnishambles · goat rope · CF (variant forms) · imbroglio · Charlie Foxtrot (variant forms) · clusterball (variant forms) · dumpster fire · comedy of errors · train wreck · SNAFU · debacle · dysfunction · car crash · fustercluck (variant forms) · cluster (variant forms) · quagmire · gong show · fiasco · clusterbumble (variant forms) · FUBAR · goatfuck
Translations (34)
de Riesenfiasko (chaotic situation) · fi härdelli (chaotic situation) · pl burdel (chaotic situation) · it casino (chaotic situation) · fr merdier (chaotic situation) · es pifostio (chaotic situation) · pl chujnia (chaotic situation) · fr foutoir (chaotic situation) · ru по́лная жо́па (chaotic situation) · ru барда́к (chaotic situation) · sh zajebancija (chaotic situation) · scn buirdiellu (chaotic situation) · mk пиздарија (chaotic situation) · sh klasterfak (chaotic situation) · pl pierdolnik (chaotic situation) · pl rozpierducha (chaotic situation) · it bordello (chaotic situation) · sh кластерфак (chaotic situation) · sh kaotična situacija (chaotic situation) · pl jebutnia (chaotic situation) · da kaotisk situation (chaotic situation) · nl teringzooi (chaotic situation) · pt zona (chaotic situation) · de Riesenchaos (chaotic situation) · de Riesenkacke (chaotic situation) · ru пизде́ц (chaotic situation) · sh zajeb (chaotic situation) · pl sraka (chaotic situation) · de Riesenscheiße (chaotic situation) · pt bordel (chaotic situation) · fr caillon (chaotic situation) · pl przypał (chaotic situation) · it macello (chaotic situation) · fr bordel (chaotic situation)
wikipedia: Hippie · wikipedia: Ed Sanders · wikipedia: East Village Other