Russian roulette

noun

: an act of bravado consisting of spinning the cylinder of a revolver loaded with one cartridge, pointing the muzzle at one's own head, and pulling the trigger

: something resembling Russian roulette in its potential for disaster

taking cocaine is playing Russian roulette—

Jonathan Nicholas

Examples of Russian roulette in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Decision-makers in the Middle East should ask themselves whether playing Russian roulette with nuclear reactors is worth the risk. —

Bennett Ramberg, Foreign Affairs, 25 May 2015 That should change, immediately, because this is starting to feel like Russian roulette. —

Howard Kurtz, Fox News, 17 Sep. 2024 The challenge is to ensure that your moves are calculated and not just a financial game of Russian roulette. —

Bola Sol, refinery29.com, 6 Feb. 2024 Saddam's conduct of Iraqi foreign policy after coming to power in the 1970s was thus essentially one long game of Russian roulette. —

Amatzia Baram, Foreign Affairs, 1 July 2012 See all Example Sentences for Russian roulette

Word History

First Known Use

1937, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of Russian roulette was in 1937

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Russian roulette.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Russian%20roulette. Accessed 15 Dec. 2024.

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