matches made in hell
Catastrophically incompatible unions
Matches made in hell are pairings that seem destined for disaster—relationships, partnerships, or combinations so poorly suited they suggest demonic rather than divine intervention.
The phrase inverts the romantic cliché "match made in heaven": Those two running a business together? A match made in hell.
Often used for couples whose conflicts are visible to everyone but themselves.
- Faustian bargainRuinous exchange for power
- unholy alliancePartnership between unlikely, corrupt parties
- Cold War alliancesSuperpower-led military coalitions
- marriage of convenienceUnion for practical gain
- codependencyExcessive emotional reliance on another
toxic relationship · Pandora's box · zero-sum game · incompatibility · gaslighting · ideological clash · bad blood · paradox · cognitive dissonance · moral hazard · conflict of interest · sabotage · train wreck · oil and water · mutually assured destruction · powder keg · tragic flaw · rivalry
matches made in hellmatches made in heaven
Perfectly suited romantic pairings
dream teams · power couples · kindred spirits · symbiotic relationships · meant to be
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