# booby prize

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/booby-prize
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

A prize or status, often unwelcome, awarded as a joke or disincentive to the loser of a contest or for poor performance.

## Examples

- I lost the race and won a silly booby prize.
- The team finished last in the tournament and received a rubber chicken as a booby prize.
- Despite his earnest efforts to win the competition, he was ultimately awarded the booby prize, a humiliating token of his failure that the audience found quite amusing.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.