Meanings
- uncountablechildren's gamesA children's game in which players circle a group of chairs. There is one chair fewer than the number of players. When someone who is not watching stops playing music, everybody sits down, and the player left without a chair is eliminated.
Synonyms: trip to Jerusalem
- figurativelyuncountableAny activity which results in repeated, pointless shuffling of people or objects.
O’Donnell sounded world-weary as he recollected trying to sustain strategies for big issues through games of ministerial musical chairs.
2026 June 22, Tom Clark, “The ungovernable country? Why Britain keeps losing prime ministers”, in The Guardian, →ISSN2 more examples
They were married though they needn't have married, and though both had sworn they never would be. It is hard to explain—in that game of musical chairs—why they should have stopped, finally, at each other.
2012, Zadie Smith, NW, London: Penguin Books, published 2013, →ISBN, page 23The job market last year and earlier in 2022 was like musical chairs, offering record opportunities for hopping from seat to seat. Now many feel that the music is about to stop.
2022 October 7, Emma Goldberg, “The Job Market Has Been Like Musical Chairs. Will the Music Stop?”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 14 Oct 2022
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA children's game in which players circle a group of chairs. There is one chair fewer than the number of players. When someone who is not watching stops playing music, everybody sits down, and the player left without a chair is eliminated.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna child's game in which players march to music around a group of chairs that contains one chair less than the number of players; when the music abruptly stops the players scramble to sit and the player who does not find a chair is eliminated; then a chair is removed and the march resumes until only the winner is seated
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 音樂椅 /音乐椅, 抢椅子
- 音樂椅 /音乐椅 (yīnyuèyǐ)game
- 抢椅子game
Danish stoledans
- stoledansgame
Dutch stoelendans, stoelendans
- stoelendansgame
- stoelendansfiguratively: activity of shuffling people
Finnish tuolileikki, tuolileikki
- tuolileikkigame
- tuolileikkifiguratively: activity of shuffling people
French chaises musicales
- chaises musicalesgame
German Reise nach Jerusalem, Stuhltanz
- Reise nach Jerusalemgame
- Stuhltanzgame
Icelandic stóladans
- stóladansgame
Irish cathaoireacha ceoil
- cathaoireacha ceoilgame
Italian gioco della sedia
- gioco della sediagame
Polish gorące krzesła, gorące krzesła
- gorące krzesłagame
- gorące krzesłafiguratively: activity of shuffling people
Portuguese dança das cadeiras
- dança das cadeirasgame
Russian музыка́льные сту́лья
- музыка́льные сту́лья (muzykálʹnyje stúlʹja)game
Spanish juego de las sillas, sillita musical
- juego de las sillasgame
- sillita musicalgame
- sillas musicalesgame
- baile de las sillasgame
Swedish hela havet stormar, hela havet stormar
- hela havet stormargame
- hela havet stormarfiguratively: activity of shuffling people
Thai เก้าอี้ดนตรี
- เก้าอี้ดนตรี (gâo-îi-don-dtrii)game
Turkish sandalye kapmaca
- sandalye kapmacagame
Welsh chwarae newid cadeiriau
- chwarae newid cadeiriaugame
Cite this entry
musical chairs. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/musical%20chairs
“musical chairs.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/musical%20chairs. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “musical chairs,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/musical%20chairs.
Source: musical chairs on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.