dumpster fire
n. A person, organization, or situation that is hopelessly and disastrously out of control.
Examples
2016
“Whenever someone was having a really bad day, or someone was completely out of sorts, she’d just go, ‘Oh man, guy’s a dumpster fire.’ Or she’d go, ‘Oh, that whole organization is a dumpster fire,’” Wise recalled in a phone conversation recently.
—Claire Fallon, “Where Did ‘Dumpster Fire’ Come From? Where Is It Rolling?,” The Huffington Post, June 24, 2016
2015
In one of his regular appearances on the sports network, Finebaum claimed that while Miami used to be a college football dynasty, it is now a "dumpster fire."
—“Analyst calls UM football program 'dumpster fire',” ABC News Local 10, October 27, 2015
2014
The team’s handling of the controversy — which Becker described as a “PR dumpster fire — has only added to his frustration.
—John Woodrow Cox, “Redskins name: 'A PR dumpster fire',” The Washington Post, November 21, 2014
2003 (earliest)
There are quite a few teeth missing from the latest, dull-bladed remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which trades suspense and chills for gore and sadism. This bloody, exploitative mess is the cinematic equivalent of a dumpster fire — stinky but insignificant.
—Bill Muller, “'Saw' messes with 'Texas',” Arizona Republic, October 17, 2003
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