Phrase guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
noun
A scenario with no positive or favourable outcome; a no-win situation.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: informal
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
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).
