kobayashi maru
/ˈkoʊbɑjɑʃi məˈruː/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.59 in modern English
27
Scrabble Score
13
Letters
2
Syllables
11
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Christmas is the Kobayashi Maru of holidays. It is unwinnable."
- "Martin said, “Gwen, do you understand that there’s no right answer to that? You've asked me the Kobayashi Maru of questions. There’s no possible way to answer that won't make you mad.”"
- "“You might not be able to win,” I said. “It may be the Kobayashi Maru of seating arrangements.”"
Etymology
From the fictional Kobayashi Maru test, first introduced in the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, a training exercise in which Starfleet cadets face an intentionally unwinnable scenario as a test of character. The test involves the rescue of an eponymous vessel, named by Star Trek II screenwriter Jack B. Sowards after his neighbours, from the Japanese family name Kobayashi and maru (a suffix of Japanese ship names).