you can't win

Idioms

Also, you just can't win. Whatever one does is wrong or not enough, as in Every time I block one of the woodchuck's holes, I find another; you just can't win. [First half of 1900s] For a synonym, see damned if I do, damned if I don't.

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.

"Chasing 180-185, you can't win the game in the power play, but you might lose it," he said after his side stumbled to 31-3 after six overs, which became 43-4 a few balls later and then 51-5.

From Barron's

"You can't win," Martina says.

From BBC

If you can’t hit, you can’t win.

From The Wall Street Journal

"You're expected to be a parent like you don't work, but work like you haven't got kids. You can't win."

From BBC

When former Liverpool defender Alan Hansen declared at the start of the 1995-96 Premier League season "You can't win anything with kids", Alex Ferguson's young Manchester United stars went on to prove him wrong.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023