People Shared The Worst Gifts They’ve Ever Received, And Some Are Truly Painful

Gift-giving is supposed to be thoughtful, but sometimes it goes spectacularly wrong. From wildly inappropriate choices to presents that clearly required zero effort, some gifts leave a lasting impression for all the wrong reasons.

In this collection, people share the worst gifts they’ve ever received, taken from Redditors answering the question, “Since it’s almost Christmas, what are the WORST gifts you’ve seen given?” The stories range from awkward to downright painful, proving that good intentions don’t always lead to good presents, and that some holiday memories are best laughed at later.

#1

Image source: AdImmediate4149, freepik Do not, *I repeat*, do not give your wife household appliances/cleaning supplies for a gift, *unless* she has specifically asked for it.

#2

Image source: lookingatanudeegg, ajay_suresh My mother gave me a rice cooker that she got free as a give away at the grocery store. She gave my brother a massive tv and whatever gaming console he wanted at the time. She called me ungrateful for not being over the moon ecstatic about the rice cooker. Flash forward to next Christmas. After her making comments about the rice cooker all year, she asked me what I wanted. I had been saving for a camera that I wanted for a while and she had been hinting that she was getting it for me despite me saying just money so I could put it towards the camera. Naive me thought she was trying to redeem herself from last year. On Christmas Day, I'm handed a camera sized box, I open it excitedly to be met with: A large jar wrapped in a towel filled with socks. A few years later, I went no contact from my family.

#3

Image source: Level_Fun1610, roman_babakin My husband once gifted me a bicycle ....I was 8 months pregnant and had recently fallen and cracked my tailbone. My mom regularly gifted me Reeses-themed sweets and things with cinnamon like scented candles, etc. While they could be great for the right person, I'm highly allergic to both cinnamon and peanut butter. I'm now divorced and no contact with both parties.

#4

A gift card to Barnes & Noble (from an Aunt) when I was 12. I was so excited because there were some new books that had been released that I wanted and my parents didn't have alot of money at the time. When we went to Barnes & Noble, I picked out my books and proudly presented my gift card...it had 12 cents on it (so was obviously used before I received it) My dad looked so heartbroken when I unfortunately had to put the books back. I held it together until we got home and silently cried for hours. My parents were able to save some money and take me back to the store for my birthday at the end of January so I could get my books, but im now 36 and still have a feeling of dread when I receive a gift card. Image source: Terrible_Gamer_1989

#5

My now ex-husband bought me a sewing basket, filled with scissors, thread, and needles. I do not sew as a hobby. However, he always wanted me to repair his clothing, sew on buttons, etc. By the next year we divorced. Found the basket in a closet recently, and burned it in a barrel. Image source: AnnabananaIL

#6

Ex husband gave me hot pink lingerie. 5 weeks after c section with bub #2, bub #1 was only 16 months old. Unwrapped in front of my parents, aunts/uncles, grand-dad and his mother, who helped pick it. That's 1 reason he's an ex. Image source: PeachyMitzy

#7

I was about 6 or 7 and my aunt gave me a stocking with coal in it. She thought it’d be funny, I sobbed my little heart out. My mom was not to happy with her sister. Image source: Suspicious-Rich-3212

#8

Image source: Oh_No_Its_Dudder, inna-zueva5 For a secret Santa exchange, I once got a used foot massager, complete with dead flaky skin all over it. I haven't taken part in once since.

#9

Image source: FormalMango, Rudy Jr. Someone gave me a pet turtle when I was 15. Don’t do that.

#10

My sweet, very religious mother in law gave me a vibrator. It was labeled as a back massager and she said I looked tense and she wanted to help me relax. ??. Image source: Billie_Hollandaise

#11

My ex MIL was extremely underweight due to medical issues (and maybe an ED?), at the time I was slightly overweight and it’s something I’ve always struggled with. We’re both quite short and she was around a size XXS, while I was around a medium. She always gave me clothing, and it was always her size. Luckily, it was usually ugly clothes and not even remotely my style, so I never felt I was missing out by not being able to wear it, but it felt so unnecessarily mean and passive aggressive. Image source: namedafternoone

#12

The Bible game on gameboy advance when I asked for Pokemon. Seven year old me was so disappointed. I am 27 now and still hate that Christmas. Everyone else got pokemon at school I got a religious learning game. Image source: ProfessionalGain8719

#13

Image source: Harakiri_238, Visual Karsa Not necessarily the worst, but ironic. I have health problems and can’t eat (at all, I’m on TPN). Everyone in my inner life knows I can’t eat. And yet somehow I end up getting Mc Donald’s gift cards, booster juice gift cards, Tim Hortons gift cards, etc. My one aunt spent 3 months in the hospital with me and got me a Mc Donald’s gift card. It’s like, out of anyone you should have known at least ? But I just give them to my family so it doesn’t matter lol.

#14

Alcohol to a recovering alcoholic. Image source: Sad-Yellow-1694

#15

My best friend got a dollar store Barbie-type doll from her boyfriend's mother. She was 20 and not pregnant. As for me, my ex boyfriend once made me a macaroni picture of two girls hanging from nooses and holding hands. No red flags there. Image source: gimme_a_job_in_pgh

#16

I asked for a copy of Foundation by Asimov. I received a published copy of a transcript of a BBC radio broadcast of two people reading it and discussing it. I'm still scratching my head on that one. It's one of the most printed books in the world. It's... not hard to find. Like she went out of her way to find something like that. Image source: Langstarr

#17

Image source: Skittles_the_Jester, Annie Spratt My little cousin gets screwed almost every Christmas. One year he asked for games for his ps4, he was given equipment for football, his school season was over and the stuff given likely wouldn’t fit next year. He has also received used (heavily tattered) books for Christmas a few years from my grandma because “he’s failing reading, thought this would encourage him to do better or want to read.” He was not happy having his grades announced to the whole family and also wasn’t happy he wasn’t even worth new books.

#18

My aunt gave me a hood for a jacket…but no jacket. She also is notorious for giving partially used gift cards. Image source: Extension_Salary_747

#19

My mum last year gifted me some bath stuff…that I got her from 2 years ago. Image source: Old-Marionberry-3578

#20

A distant aunt once gifted me a plastic luggage tag for "when I went travelling". I was 7. We didn't travel. My 4 yo brother and other cousins all got flash, expensive gifts. . Image source: Key-Statistician1710

#21

My mom once got me hentai thinking it was anime. It was hilarious. Of course I told her Edit: the same year she got my brother in law boxers with flaming basketballs on them. We made a joke that it’s racist (he’s black), and she said, “I thought they were robots!” That was a fun Christmas. Image source: TsunamaRama

#22

Image source: Subject-Ad-5249, Juan Pablo Campos León My Dad gave me earrings several years in a row. I don't have pierced ears.

#23

A “self-improvement” gift you absolutely did not ask for. Like deodorant, weight-loss stuff, anti-aging cream, or a book that’s basically saying “here’s what’s wrong with you.” Wrapped up with a smile like it’s thoughtful ? Nothing kills Christmas vibes faster than opening a present and realizing it was a **subtle critique**, not a gift. Image source: JTee789

#24

Image source: Red_Minded, Aurélia Dubois Once my wife received a literal soap kit from her aunt and basically you could make your own soap to use or whatever... however when we opened it up it literally was already half used and it was kinda gross so she tossed it out. Like talk about a cheapskate.

#25

A guy I knew in college wanted to get his girlfriend something he knew she'd use, so he looked in her bathroom, saw what kind of shampoo she used, and bought her 10 bottles of it! He was really sweet and was actually trying to get a good gift, but the execution was poorly done. The gift was not appreciated way he thought it'd be. Image source: NotsoOldFisherman

#26

Image source: President_Calhoun, Juli Kosolapova My aunt gave me a subscription to Children's Digest when I was 9 or 10 and kept renewing it every Christmas until I was 20.

#27

Image source: canuck_11, Kirsten Frank This was around 2001. I used to beg my parents to never buy me clothes for Christmas. Usually they’d get me XL or XXL shirts even though I was a medium. One Christmas it all came to a head when they got me a leather button up collared shirt. My face said it all. Like I didn’t even know such a thing existed. I’ve never seen one before and never seen one since. My mom said if I didn’t like something I should say so and they can return it. For this gift I had to say something. I was then told I was ungrateful and ruined Christmas. They still bring it up and the shirt hangs in their closet.

#28

Muhammad Ali Monopoly. I’m not into sports, let alone boxing and already had a Monopoly set. This was from my parents in my late 20s. Image source: Andromeda_Collision

#29

My uncle gave his wife toilet paper as a gift… (to be fair was during Covid lol). Image source: RandomGuyRy

#30

My husband gave me a small wrapped tube one year. It was a burts bees chapstick. The next year I got a single blue and white bowl. Image source: Lifeguard-oil-091519

#31

Image source: NotYourMommyDear, Elena Mishlanova Gifts my mother has given me for Xmas: A barbie doll when I was 16. Because I was "difficult to buy for", code for "I spent £500 on your brother," A pile of cheap keyrings so I could start my keyring collection, despite never expressing any interest in collecting keyrings. Clothes in her size, favourite colour and frumpish style. In the hope I'd grow into them. The only way I would, is if I grew sideways. The one time she cared: An aunt had attempted to gift me one of those dolls that peed itself. I was four years old and my mother had realized I already hated that gendered stuff. It was left behind at that aunt's house. My brother was born a few months later. I was once forced to participate in a Secret Santa. We were asked to sign up, I didn't but my name was added anyway. £5 minimum spend was the requirement. I gave a £5 gift card for a clothing store located near the office. I received a mug with the £2 price still on. My dad had an allergy to mushrooms. He got a second-hand book on mushroom foraging in a secret santa.

#32

An ex bf once gifted me a giant bottle of midori sour. I don’t drink. In fact, I despise alcohol. Image source: Appropriate_Sky_6571

#33

A few years ago my mother-in-law bought everyone in the family the same gift: UV phone cleaners. They were the size of a toaster and were supposed to go on your bedside table. They were promptly returned to Bed, Bath, and Beyond...it ended up leading to a bunch of family drama. Image source: milksasquatch

#34

I wear a size medium, I am a very average sized woman. My mother in law went to the ”big ladies” department and bought me an XXL sweater. Her one daughter gave me the same personalized tote bag two years in a row; her other daughter gave me the same kitchen appliance two years in a row. Thank god I don’t have to celebrate christmas with these people anymore! Image source: Cinnamongirl2037

#35

Family on my dad's side gave me a cheap box of chocolates. They were expired by a year. They only visit to ask my dad for money anyway. Another year my family were collectively gifted a packet of Christmas themed napkins from the same relative. My dad gives each of her kids €50 cash for birthdays and Christmas. Basically no one on my dad's side knows my age, what I'm doing in life or anything about me. I never really got cards or acknowledgements for birthdays from them. That was always upsetting as a kid. I used to visit those relatives every 2 weeks until I got to an age where I refused because they were struggling to remember my name even though I was visiting them for years. My mom's side is better but once I was given earrings from my godfather and his wife. I have never had my ears pierced. I thanked them for the gift and they starting insisting I put them on, I said my ears aren't pierced. She said oh they were before. I said no. I sent a follow up text thanking them but I heard that they thought I was ungrateful for them and that I was aggressive. Sorry I didn't stick them into my ears I guess. Image source: Ihaveaface836

#36

Image source: towers_of_ilium, David Trinks My grandma once gave me a red crocheted swan. It was made from that nylon ribbon stuff they used to make everything from in the 1950s. You could lift a wing on each side. Under the wing was a cavity where you could put a mothball. It stunk of mothballs. I was 9.

#37

Not on a holiday, I got a sweater from my mom that had “so many books, so little time” on the front when I was about ten years old. Great sweater, loved it. My dad (they were divorced) got me an identical sweater for Christmas “because you like that one so much”. Image source: targaryenmegan

#38

We used to have some step relatives who would give us the worst gifts. We didn’t really know them but would try to get them something generically nice like a box of decent chocolates. They gifted us, on two different years: 1. A home fragrance kit that had clearly come from one of those discount stores. They left the price label on so we could see it cost £4.99 2. Some nasty Christmas tree ornaments, “wrapped up” in a black bin liner. I couldn’t decide if these had come from a charity shop, been cleared out of their loft, or literally foraged from a bin Thankfully we don’t have to deal with those people any more. Image source: marunchinos

#39

At the height of puberty angst as a pudgy kid, my grandmother gave me clothes that were wildly too small. Not great for the ego when the world at the time was already pushing the heroine-chic look. Image source: pantherwest

#40

Image source: SereneStatic, Cristian Cristian A color changing mug that turns out to be a giveaway from someone else's birthday ?.