footgun
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
A feature or tool that is intended to help but can easily cause harm
một tính năng hoặc công cụ có thể gây hại dù được thiết kế để giúp đỡ
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Examples
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “footgun” mean?
A feature or tool that is intended to help but can easily cause harm Literally: a gun that shoots oneself in the foot
Is “footgun” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.