Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

clusterfuck

/ˈklʌs.tɚˌfʌk/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.22 in modern English

Syllables: clus-ter-fuck
IPA: /ˈklʌs.tɚˌfʌk/

22

Scrabble Score

11

Letters

3

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A chaotic situation where everything seems to go wrong, often caused by communication failure, a complex environment, or incompetence.

Slang

noun

Slang

verb

To fuck (something) up, to make a total mess of.

Slang; Transitive verb

Example Sentences

"[Colonel Meyers:] That's for sure. What's your assessment of this exercise? [Highway:] It's a cluster fuck."
"1989: P. J. O'Rourke, Holidays in Hell "Mongolian Cluster Fuck" is the technical term journalists use for a preplanned, wholly scripted, news-free event."
"They had a name for something like this in the army—a cluster fuck. Yes. Good name. ... He was sitting here in the middle of a great big cluster fuck"
"A simple sweep-and-clear turned into a total clusterfuck: T-Bird, trying to explain to Eric how the situation escalated on Devil's Night […]"
"Please note also my request that henceforth I wish to be reminded of the possibility of a clusterfuck in any contingency plan or operations proposal […]"
"My cousin was in the Army over here in '68. He says don't trust anybody to know what they're doing, calls it a cluster-fuck. Fucked-up-beyond-all-repair, FUBAR he says."

Etymology

From cluster + fuck. Reportedly coined by Hippie poet Ed Sanders as Mongolian Cluster Fuck. First attested in c. 1965 in East Village Other.

Origin

First known use: First attested in c. 1965

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈklʌs.tɚˌfʌk/
British English: /ˈklʌs.təˌfʌk/

Usage

Inflected Forms

clusterfucks (plural) cluster fuck (alternative) cluster-fuck (alternative) clusterfucks (present, singular) clusterfucking (participle, present) clusterfucked (participle, past) clusterfucked (past)

Derived Forms

CF cluster clusterball clusterbumble clusterbùrach clusterfucked clusterfuckery fustercluck

Phrases

Charlie Foxtrot

Frequently Paired Words

FUBAR fuck rape

Synonyms

CF cluster clusterball fustercluck car crash comedy of errors debacle dumpster fire dysfunction fiasco FUBAR goatfuck

Questions

How do you pronounce clusterfuck?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈklʌs.tɚˌfʌk/.
What does clusterfuck mean?: A chaotic situation where everything seems to go wrong, often caused by communication failure, a complex environment, or incompetence.
Where does clusterfuck come from?: First known use: First attested in c. 1965.

How to pronounce clusterfuck

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “clusterfuck”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈklʌs.tɚˌfʌk/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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