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Glite Dictionary
clown-car primary

clown-car primary

9.9
An election with too many messy candidates that makes it hard to pick one
  • noun
  • Offensive
translation icon : primaria caótica
  • Some analysts called the 2016 Republican contest a clown-car primary because of the sheer number of hopefuls.

Examples

  • The clown-car primary made it hard for voters to distinguish serious candidates from the rest.

  • After the clown-car primary, party leaders pushed for electoral reforms to reduce such confusion.

  • What a clown-car primary!

  • The clown-car primary was chaotic.

  • In the recent election, the clown-car primary featured over twenty candidates, making it difficult for voters to choose wisely.

  • Political commentators described the last clown-car primary as a spectacle with too many candidates competing for attention.

  • During the chaotic clown-car primary, many voters felt overwhelmed by the number of candidates on the ballot.

Synonyms

primary election
vsclown-car primary
  • US
12 3.2

An early election where party voters choose candidates for the general election

is a crowded version marked by an excessive and chaotic number of candidates
clown show
vsclown-car primary
  • Offensive
1 7.0

A very messy and badly organized event or situation

is specifically an election made chaotic by an excessive number of candidates

How Chaotic

clown-car primary
  • Offensive
9.9
orderly
41 3.5

Surface Forms

clown-car primary singular
clown-car primaries plural

Morphology

clown-car + primary

The constituents 'clown' + 'car' evoke the familiar image of a tiny vehicle stuffed with many clowns, so when combined with 'primary' the metaphor yields the sense of an election with an excessive, chaotic number of candidates. However, this relies on a cultural, image-based metaphor (the 'clown car' trope) rather than a literal compositional rule, so a B1 learner might not infer the intended political sense without prior exposure.

Etymology

Clown-car primary comes from the image of a tiny car filled with many clowns tumbling out in a messy, crowded way. That picture helps you remember that a 'clown-car primary' is a primary with 'too many candidates' and a lot of confusion.