20 of the Worst Christmas Presents: Tales of Festive Fails

Roy

2 years ago

Worst Christmas presents ever

Ah, the holiday season—a time for giving, receiving, and occasionally questioning the gift-giver's sanity. In this collection of 20 stories, brace yourself for the unveiling of the most cringe-worthy, head-scratching, and downright disappointing Christmas presents. From fruitcakes that could break a window to the infamous 'toilet seat cozy,' get ready for a rollercoaster of gift-giving gone wrong.

worst Christmas present ever Whats the worst gift you've ever recieved?

worst Christmas present ever When I was 11-12 my father's fourth wife would constantly give gifts to me and my sister, but would often take them back when we were out of the house and return them. So she'd give us really cool things, like a DVD player or even once a slot machine (???) but in a week or so they'd be gone... and we were expected to be totally okay with that. The only gifts that she gave us (permanently) were her old clothes. And that would have been fine, except that she was a size 20 and at the time I was a size 8/9. She fully expected me to wear her clothes, which were often wrapped and in gift boxes, and stopped speaking to me when I said they were too big to fit. Anyway, my father's married to his fifth wife now.

worst Christmas present ever I hate ketchup. At work one year we did a secret santa gift exchange and everyone did a really good job and got people really cool gifts with a lot of thought. I bought my person tickets to a Chiefs vs Packers game because they were from Wisconsin but never got to go to a game at Lambeau. They were really happy. Other people got free dance lessons and cool stuff like that.

worst Christmas present ever The person who drew my name was the only person at the entire company to take this opportunity to be a. They bought me three giant bottles of ketchup. And thought it was hilarious. I just stood there kind of dumb founded as the person who gave it laughed really hard. Everyone else just stood there staring at him.

worst Christmas present ever It sucked because everyone else tried really hard and I spent a good amount of money on my gift. And the person who got me was a.. Not cool. Literally made me hate the person.

worst Christmas present ever My mother in law gave me a blanket I had just donated 2 weeks before to Goodwill. She went there, bought it, and gave it to me like a new gift. Never realizing it had been in my home. Now I have to drive about an hour to donate anything for fear it will come back to my house.

worst Christmas present ever A friend of mine and I gifted each other the same bottle of after shave each xmas. That way every other xmas one of us got a gift every other year, without fail. We did this for over forty years until he passed in Feb., 2015. It's really the thought that counts.

worst Christmas present ever It was actually a Reddit secret Santa gift. I asked for books, and the person sent me a card first saying, "your present is on its way, and it will surely add to your book collection". It was a bookmark of owls saying "hooooots reading my book". Granted I still use the bookmark today, but what a tease.

worst Christmas present ever My mom is the worst gift giver of all time. She usually just gives you one of whatever she's been hoarding that she doesn't have room for. For a while this was ceramic lighthouses. Then it was little fountains. As a man in his thirties I was not the least bit interested in either. Then, one year, after my wife and I wondered what my bday present would be- a fountain or a lighthouse- she surprised me.

worst Christmas present ever She took a lighthouse, drilled a hole in the bottom, put a pump in it and set it in a ceramic bowl of water so water poured from the top of the lighthouse like it was flooded or something. _ lighthouse fountain. Well played, Mom. Edit- Dudes, I get that it almost sounds cool, but I can't explain how halfassedly this thing was constructed. THe lighthouse and the little bowl it sat in didn't match. The lighthouse sat crooked in a bed of rocks because the pump she used was too big for the base of the lighthouse. And the way the water poured from the windows of the lighthouse just made me think of poor, tiny lighthouse keepers drowning inside. I tossed it after getting it, so no pics.

worst Christmas present ever Not me but I had an OG for a teacher in high school. We called him Mr. T (had a long T name) and he was a legend because he sounded like the boring teacher in Ferris Bueller and kept a bat in his filing cabinet (just in case). Anyway, Mr. T always wore these weird, colorful, (kinda) ugly sweaters and shirts. So this goofball in our class decided to give him a gift during class for Christmas. Mr. T, being a champ, opens it mid-class and just bursts out laughing. It's any ugly shirt. When Mr. T stopped laughing, he asked if he got the shirt at Goodwill (a second-hand donation store). Clown confirms that he did.

worst Christmas present ever One year my (now ex) boyfriend bought me a deck of Magic: The Gathering Cards. I had absolutely no interest in them prior to receiving them, and then he refused to teach me how to play the game. He took them with him when we broke up. Edit: I should mention it was for my birthday, too.

worst Christmas present ever One year for Christmas my dad got me not one, but two copies of the Baha Men cd. I was a 14 year old girl at the time.

worst Christmas present ever Not me but one of my friends didn't get anything for Christmas last year because he was an 'adult' now. He was 19. He then didn't get anything for his mums birthday because she is an 'adult' and she doesn't need anything if she is an adult. She realised her mistake after that and he got treated pretty well on his birthday this year.

worst Christmas present ever My grandparent gave my sister a -ton of things she liked + money and then they turned to me and gave me a bible I know I'm a heathen but that's cold haha

Within these tales of gift-giving catastrophes, I encountered the extremes of holiday surprises—socks for every occasion, questionable fashion choices that should've stayed in the '80s, and the eternal question of why someone thought a pet rock was an acceptable gift. Meanwhile, the internet hums with discussions on 'disappointing Christmas gifts' and 'worst presents ever,' where people share their own cringe-inducing tales of festive misfortune. Dive into these conversations to commiserate with others who've received their fair share of disappointing surprises.

Roy

Roy R., Chief Meme Curator Roy founded Thunder Dungeon in 2012 and has since guided its growth into a 2.5 million‑strong community of meme enthusiasts. With over a decade of digital‑media experience and a nose for viral humor, Roy oversees content strategy, ensuring every post is both hilarious and high‑quality