damp squib

Fetched 2026-10-26 (cache).

Datamuse reports no synonyms or antonyms for this word.

Noun

1. {{lb|en|literally}} A [[firework]] that has been wet and therefore fails to [[go off]] correctly.
2. {{lb|en|idiomatic|by extension}} Anything that does not [[work]] [[properly]], or [[fails]] to come up to [[expectation]]s; a [[dud]].

Source: Wiktionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wiktionary dump) · cached copy, not a rewrite.