busted flushes
Almost-wins that weren't
Busted flushes is the plural of busted flush—a poker hand where four cards share a suit but the fifth doesn't, failing to complete a flush.
Figuratively, a busted flush is something or someone that promised much but failed to deliver: The startup turned out to be a busted flush.
British usage favors the figurative sense for failed people or ventures.
- dudFailed device or effort
- ineffectiveLacking power to achieve
- worthlessLacking any value
- pipe dreamUnrealistic aspiration
- lost causeEndeavor certain to fail
letdown · unsuccessful · flops · poker · five card draw · dead hand · failure · also-rans · second string · hand · bad beat · defeat · gamble · bluff · washed-up · flash in the pan · chips · odds
busted flushesflush
Same suit, five cards
winning hands · royal flush · straight flush · full house · four of a kind
busted flushessuccess stories
Accounts of achievement
sure things · winners · rising stars · golden boys · overachievers
bust, busted, busting, busts, buster, busters, flush, flushed, flushes