booby prize
A prize or status, often unwelcome, awarded as a joke or disincentive to the loser of a contest or for poor performance.
At the end of the conference, they awarded him with a rubber chicken as a booby prize for complaining the loudest.
booby
/ˈbuːbi/
noun 4adj 3verb 2
Collocations
4ADJ.
against, ambitious, awkward
VERB + BOOBY
blue-footed, found, loot, won
BOOBY + NOUN
ervants, knowledge, tood
PREP.
about, in, up
Definitions
noun
1
A stupid person.
A Frenchman, in his own Country, would dress a fine Dinner of twenty Dishes, and all genteel and pretty, for the Expence he will put an English Lord to for dressing one Dish. But then there is the little petty Profit. [...] So much is the blind Folly of this Age, that they would rather be impos'd on by a French Booby, than give Encouragement to a good English Cook!
The daughter is said to be well-bred and beautiful; the son an awkward booby, reared up and spoiled at his mother's apron-string.
2
Any of various large tropical seabirds from the genera Sula and Papasula in the family Sulidae, traditionally considered to be stupid.
At which time, ſome Boobyes, weary of flight, made our Ship their pearch, an animall ſo ſimple as ſuffers any to take her without feare, as if a ſtupid ſenſe made her careleſſe of danger...
We found on St. Paul's only two kinds of birds—the booby and the noddy. The former is a species of gannet, and the latter a tern. Both are of a tame and stupid disposition, and are so unaccustomed to visitors, that I could have killed any number of them with my geological hammer.
3
In the game of croquet, a ball that has not passed through the first wicket.
A booby may displace another booby or a bridged ball by roquet, ricochet, or concussion.
verb
1
To behave stupidly; to act like a booby.
Who lounge and who loot, and who booby about, / No knowledge within, and no manners without;
2
To install a booby trap on or at (something); to attack (someone) with a booby trap.
Self Boobied. Donald E. Campbell of Merritt Island, Fla., accidentally tripped on one of the shotgun shell booby traps he had installed
adj
1
Stupid; unintelligent.
When we arrived at the houſe, I was in the utmoſt confuſion; for the booby ſervants ſtood gaping and grinning at my diſtreſs, and Sir Sampſson himſelf told me, with a laugh as horrible as Caliban's, that he would lend me one of his maids to carry me out airing every morning.
Thesaurus
Idioms & Phrases
Example Bank
601
A Frenchman, in his own Country, would dress a fine Dinner of twenty Dishes, and all genteel and pretty, for the Expence he will put an English Lord to for dressing one Dish. But then there is the lit
Wiktionary02
The daughter is said to be well-bred and beautiful; the son an awkward booby, reared up and spoiled at his mother's apron-string.
Wiktionary03
As for the Pyramids, there is nothing to wonder at in them so much as the fact that so many men could be found degraded enough to spend their lives constructing a tomb for some ambitious booby, whom i
Wiktionary04
Who lounge and who loot, and who booby about, / No knowledge within, and no manners without;
Wiktionary05
Self Boobied. Donald E. Campbell of Merritt Island, Fla., accidentally tripped on one of the shotgun shell booby traps he had installed
Wiktionary06
When we arrived at the houſe, I was in the utmoſt confuſion; for the booby ſervants ſtood gaping and grinning at my diſtreſs, and Sir Sampſson himſelf told me, with a laugh as horrible as Caliban's, t
WiktionaryUsage Notes
i Register
In some senses, booby is marked as obsolete, slang, informal, rare, colloquial. Watch for register when choosing this word.
Your note
not saved0 chars