Russian roulette

noun

1

: an act of bravado consisting of spinning the cylinder of a revolver loaded with one cartridge, pointing the muzzle at one's own head, and pulling the trigger

2

: something resembling Russian roulette in its potential for disaster

Taking cocaine is playing Russian roulette.

—Jonathan Nicholas

Examples of Russian roulette in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Historians immediately cried foul at some of the claims the film made about American prisoners of war forced to play Russian roulette in Vietnam, but that doesn’t detract from the shock of those scenes, or the character dynamics in The Deer Hunter’s lengthy Pennsylvania-set prologue. —Jordan Hoffman, Vanity Fair, 16 Mar. 2026

Stories of the violence committed under Burge — including beatings, electric shock, suffocation with typewriter covers and games of Russian roulette — proved to have a long reach. —Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 24 Feb. 2026

Choosing one is no longer like playing Russian roulette with your tastebuds. —Bloomberg, Mercury News, 13 Jan. 2026

The doctor compared mixing fentanyl with alcohol or other substances to playing Russian roulette. —Sean Emery, Oc Register, 6 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1937, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for Russian roulette

• electrojet
• marionette
• plantagenet
• videlicet
• abet
• asset
• baguette
• banquette
• barbette
• beget
• beset
• brevet