three-ring circus
2
5.4
- noun
- /θriː rɪŋ ˈsɜːrkəs/
- Informal
:
circo
- A three-ring circus.
Examples
-
And you know, there's, it was, it was a three ring circus and, but nonetheless, they just started this started dumping.
-
This project feels like a three-ring circus, with everyone working on different tasks at once.
-
Trying to organize the event was a three-ring circus, with too many people involved and no clear direction.
-
During the holiday season, my house becomes a three-ring circus with guests, decorations, and preparations all happening at the same time.
Synonyms
144
4.4
A noisy, confused situation when people behave in a very disorganized way
12
7.7
A noisy, confused situation with a crowd behaving badly
1
7.0
A very messy and badly organized event or situation
1
4.2
A noisy, chaotic event with people everywhere
Antonyms
How Chaotic
Surface Forms
Morphology
three-ring + circus
The phrase literally combines 'three' + 'ring' to describe a circus with three performance rings, which implies multiple simultaneous acts and therefore a hectic, disorderly scene; this composition makes the metaphorical sense (many things happening at once) reasonably inferable. However, the shift from a literal circus to a figurative description of a chaotic situation is a metaphorical extension that some B1 learners may not fully predict without prior exposure, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
The noun three-ring circus comes from those busy circus shows, and people began using it for any situation where so many things happen at once that it feels 'out of control'. That's why we call a messy meeting or event a three-ring circus.