booby prize

noun

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

“At the end of the conference, they awarded him with a rubber chicken as a booby prize for complaining the loudest.”

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Meanings

nounbooby prize (plural booby prizes)

plural booby prizes

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

    At the end of the conference, they awarded him with a rubber chicken as a booby prize for complaining the loudest.

    1 more example

    "Network Rail needs to take all the booby prizes going, for a ham-fisted, over-budget, over-time infrastructure project," local activist John Mair told RAIL.

    2025 June 25, “Network News: Network Rail to pay compensation for Oxford Botley Road delays”, in RAIL, number 1038, page 9

Translations

Dutch poedelprijs
  • poedelprijsa prize awarded for poor performance
Finnish lohdutuspalkinto
  • lohdutuspalkintoa prize awarded for poor performance
French prix parodique
  • prix parodiquea prize awarded for poor performance
Icelandic skammarverðlaun
  • skammarverðlauna prize awarded for poor performance
Spanish premio limón
  • premio limóna prize awarded for poor performance
Thai รางวัลยอดแย่
  • รางวัลยอดแย่a prize awarded for poor performance
Cite this entry
APA

booby prize. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/booby%20prize

MLA

“booby prize.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/booby%20prize. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “booby prize,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/booby%20prize.

Source: booby prize on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.