feast or famine
Boom or bust
Feast or famine describes situations where abundance alternates with scarcity, with nothing in between.
The phrase typically characterizes irregular work, income, or resources: Freelancing is feast or famine—some months I'm overwhelmed, others I'm desperate for clients.
It implies instability and the absence of a sustainable middle ground.
- starvingSuffering extreme hunger
- lean timesPeriod of financial hardship
- hand to mouthBarely meeting basic needs
- paycheck to paycheckNo savings between wages
- surfeitExcessive quantity, often cloying
feeding frenzy · seasonal cycles · boom · hoarding · bust · drought · dry spell · abundance · deflation · austerity · market volatility · budgeting · rainy day fund · boom and bust · all or nothing · gambling · flood · oscillation
- Either/Oryes or no, true or false, on or off, in or out, up or down
- food idiomspiece of cake, bread winner, low-hanging fruit, cool as a cucumber, bad egg
- freelancingfreelancer, contractor, freelance, consultant, client
- oppositesopposite, opposites, antonym, antonyms, inverse
- thrift sayingspenny saved, penny wise, pinch pennies, penny pincher, live within means
- crunch timecrunch time, do or die, do-or-die, last chance, now or never
feast or faminesteady
Fixed, not fluctuating
consistent · even-keeled · moderate · stable · balanced
feast or faminereliable
Consistently performing as expected
dependable · sustainable · on an even keel · routine · predictable
feast, famine, feasts, feasted, feasting, feaster, festive, festival, festivity