Word.ws English Dictionary

for the birds

UK/fə ðə ˈbɜːdz//fəɹ ðə ˈbɜɹdz/

for the birds adjective: not deserving serious consideration; unimportant; useless, worthless.

Adjective

for the birds (not comparable)

  1. (idiomatic, informal) Not deserving serious consideration; unimportant; useless, worthless.
    • Sgt. Buck Erickson, Camp Ellis, Ill., News: "Don't take too seriously the belief that we have football at Camp Ellis solely for the entertainment of the personnel—that's strictly for the birds. The Army is a winner … The Army like to win—that's the most fortunate thing in the world for America."1944 October 20, “Today’s guest star”, in Dixon Evening Telegraph, number 247, Dixon, Ill.: The B. F. Shaw Printing Company, →OCLC, page 7, column 7
    • Burly Arthur [Godfrey] works hard. Six days a week, 52 weeks a year, he "yaps at a mike" from 6 to 7:45 a.m. over Manhattan's WABC. […] Says he: "This gettin' up at 5 o'clock is something for the birds."1946 September 2, “Radio: Early Bird”, in Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 Sep 2010

Examples of for the birds in a sentence

  • One ally of the Deputy Prime Minister said: "This is blue-sky thinking, but it is strictly for the birds.2004 February 15, Colin Brown, “Council tax to be replaced by new levy on incomes”, in The Daily Telegraph, London: Telegraph Media Group...
  • To have your kids turn against you, that's for the birds."2015 June 14, “Saints, Pelicans owner Tom Benson confident as trial closes”, in ESPN, archived from the original on 01 Apr 2016:

Synonyms of for the birds

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of for the birds

Origin of for the birds

Originally United States Army slang, said to be from birds pecking at cattle and horse dung.

Words that rhyme with for the birds

Questions about for the birds

What does for the birds mean?
For the birds means not deserving serious consideration; unimportant; useless, worthless.
How do you use for the birds in a sentence?
One ally of the Deputy Prime Minister said: "This is blue-sky thinking, but it is strictly for the birds.
What part of speech is for the birds?
For the birds is an adjective.
How do you pronounce for the birds?
For the birds is pronounced /fə ðə ˈbɜːdz/ (UK).

Words near for the birds in the dictionary

  1. for that matter
  2. for the ages
  3. for the asking
  4. for the best
  5. for the better
  6. for the birds
  7. for the book
  8. for the books
  9. for the cheap seats
  10. for the children
  11. for the chop

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: for the birds (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-for the birds.wav, En-au-for the birds.ogg.

Cite this entry: “for the birds.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/for_the_birds. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.