Meaning & use
dog's breakfast
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Meaning
nounsingularinformalBritish
A situation or thing that is very messy, disorganized, or badly done.
Grammar: Used with 'a' or 'the'; often in the phrase 'make a dog's breakfast of something'.
Patterns
- make a dog's breakfast of something
- something is a dog's breakfast
The meeting was a dog's breakfast—nothing was decided.
He made a dog's breakfast of the presentation.
The kitchen looked like a dog's breakfast after the party.
Word forms
| plural | dog's breakfasts |
|---|
Common combinations
- make a dog's breakfast of
- She made a dog's breakfast of the job interview.
- a complete dog's breakfast
- The whole project was a complete dog's breakfast.
- look like a dog's breakfast
- After the storm, the garden looked like a dog's breakfast.
Synonyms and how they differ
- mess
- A more general word for a dirty or untidy state; 'dog's breakfast' is stronger and more informal.
- shambles
- Also means a state of disorder, but often used for situations rather than physical mess.
- fiasco
- Suggests a complete failure, while 'dog's breakfast' emphasizes messiness.
Opposites
Commonly confused: dog's breakfast or dog's dinner?
dog's breakfast vs dog's dinner
In British English, this can also mean a mess, but it more often means someone who is dressed very smartly.
Practice
What does 'dog's breakfast' mean?
Choose one answer.
'Dog's breakfast' is an idiom meaning a mess or a badly organized situation. It does not refer to actual food for dogs.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “dog's breakfast”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.