card house
Breath-toppled tower
A card house is a structure built by balancing playing cards against each other, typically in triangular or layered formations.
The construction is famously unstable—a slight vibration brings it down.
This fragility makes card house a metaphor for anything precarious or easily collapsed: Their business model was a card house waiting to fall.
Also called house of cards.
Dangerously insecure
- unstableProne to sudden change
- delicateEasily broken or harmed
- collapseSudden structural failure
- toppleCause to fall
tumble · wobbly · shaky · teetering · crumble · fall · balance · careful
Misleading sensory impression
- facadeDeceptive outward appearance
- deceptionIntentional misleading of others
- falseNot matching reality
- hollowEmpty within
superficial · appearance · pretense · unsustainable · doomed · inevitable · futile · hubris
Items piled vertically
- tierHorizontal structural layer
- layerSingle thickness of material
- leanLacking fat; incline
- propSupport or stage item
triangle · pyramid · base · foundation · peak · apex · height · level
Calm during delays
- planningArranging for future events
- techniqueSkilled way of performing
- methodOrderly way of doing
- precisionAccuracy of measurement
skill · placement · timing · architecture · design · engineering · calculation · attempt
precarious
Dangerously insecure
topple · tumble · wobbly · shaky · teetering · crumble · fall · balance · careful · steady
illusion
Misleading sensory impression
- facadeDeceptive outward appearance
- deceptionIntentional misleading of others
- falseNot matching reality
hollow · superficial · appearance · pretense · unsustainable · doomed · inevitable · futile · hubris · folly
stack
Items piled vertically
prop · triangle · pyramid · base · foundation · peak · apex · height · level · floor
patience
Calm during delays
precision · skill · placement · timing · architecture · design · engineering · calculation · attempt · challenge
- unstable structuressand castle, snow fort, lean-to, shanty, scaffolding