Russian roulette

noun

: 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

: 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 That should change, immediately, because this is starting to feel like Russian roulette. —

Howard Kurtz, Fox News, 17 Sep. 2024 The challenge is to ensure that your moves are calculated and not just a financial game of Russian roulette. —

Bola Sol, refinery29.com, 6 Feb. 2024 Saddam's conduct of Iraqi foreign policy after coming to power in the 1970s was thus essentially one long game of Russian roulette. —

Amatzia Baram, Foreign Affairs, 1 July 2012 Cimino’s films drew criticism for its depictions of the Vietnamese, and its sensationalized scenes of Russian roulette, but the heart of the film belongs to its depiction of small-town America. —

Keith Phipps, Vulture, 26 May 2024 See all Example Sentences for Russian roulette

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'Russian roulette.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1937, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of Russian roulette was in 1937

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Russian roulette.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Russian%20roulette. Accessed 6 Oct. 2024.

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