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Synonyms

house of cards

American  

noun

  1. a structure or plan that is insubstantial and subject to imminent collapse, as a structure made by balancing playing cards against each other.

    The scheme is so overly complicated that it's likely to prove to be just another house of cards.
house of cards British  

noun

  1. a tiered structure created by balancing playing cards on their edges

  2. an unstable situation, plan, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
house of cards Idioms  

  1. A weak and fragile structure, plan, or organization, as in Her scheme to reorganize the school sounds like another house of cards, or Jerry built his entire business on what turned out to be a house of cards. This metaphoric expression alludes to the structure made by balancing playing cards against one another. [First half of 1600s]

Etymology

Origin of house of cards

First recorded in 1900–05

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.

“What’s especially threatening about this is that our state’s tax structure is essentially a house of cards,” Kiley said.

From Los Angeles Times

Let’s hope that we can knock over that house of cards with peace walks and other forms of calm, resolute resistance.

From Salon

Every time OpenAI wants to spend money, Windsor said, it needs to raise money — “and it only takes one investment round to go badly for the whole house of cards to fall.”

From MarketWatch

“Smoke and mirrors, house of cards, silly investors—what do you want me to tell you?” asks Ishbia.

From Barron's

“Smoke and mirrors, house of cards, silly investors—what do you want me to tell you?” asks Ishbia.

From Barron's

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.