go pear-shaped

phrase

British, informal

: to go wrong

She was in debt, and when she lost her job it all went pear-shaped.

Examples of go pear-shaped in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

When things go pear-shaped, knee injuries are common, as is the case across the board in skiing, but crashes from jumps can also cause shoulder or collarbone injuries, as happened to 2022 gold medallist Jakara Anthony last year. — Charlotte Harpur, New York Times, 17 Feb. 2026

But his plans go pear-shaped in the most darkly comic way. — Carole Horst, Variety, 10 Jan. 2026

Good communication is a no-brainer in any relationship, and Perks says the best approach is to start that boundary-setting conversation as early as possible — and definitely before things start to go pear-shaped. — Los Angeles Times, 2 Aug. 2022

Some want a foreign bolt-hole for when things go pear-shaped in China. — Jack Crowe, National Review, 21 Aug. 2020

Rhymes for go pear-shaped

• videotaped
• draped
• gaped
• raped
• scraped
• shaped
• taped
• escaped
• landscaped
• reshaped