sad sack
noun
US, informal
: a blundering, inept person
… a sad sack so unlucky in love that when his girlfriend splits, his family sides with her.—
Rand Richards Cooper
Rand Richards Cooper
Examples of sad sack in a Sentence
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The Pleasure of Being Robbed) or in tandem with his brother Benny (Daddy Long Legs, Good Time, Uncut Gems), Safdie specializes in giving sad sacks a sympathetic spotlight while keeping things raw, rough, and paced like a Rube Goldberg machine of chaos.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 1 Dec. 2025
The nephew of Back to the Future (1985) star Christopher Lloyd, Sam Lloyd was featured on shows like 3rd Rock From the Sun and Bill Lawrence's Spin City before playing the lovable sad sack Ted on Scrubs.
—James Mercadante, EW.com, 21 July 2025
The Slip concerns sixteen-year-old Nathaniel Rothstein, a dumpy sad sack who, after getting into a fight at school, is sent to live with his uncle in Austin for the summer of 1998.
—Lucas Schaefer
june 13, Literary Hub, 13 June 2025
Mickey 17: Plot, Cast, Run Time Directed by Bong Joon Ho (Parasite, Okja) and set in the near future, Mickey 17 follows Mickey Barnes, a down on his luck sad sack who escapes Earth after getting into trouble with a loan shark.
—Rudie Obias, HollywoodReporter, 8 Apr. 2025
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David Fear, Rolling Stone, 1 Dec. 2025
The nephew of Back to the Future (1985) star Christopher Lloyd, Sam Lloyd was featured on shows like 3rd Rock From the Sun and Bill Lawrence's Spin City before playing the lovable sad sack Ted on Scrubs.
—James Mercadante, EW.com, 21 July 2025
The Slip concerns sixteen-year-old Nathaniel Rothstein, a dumpy sad sack who, after getting into a fight at school, is sent to live with his uncle in Austin for the summer of 1998.
—Lucas Schaefer
june 13, Literary Hub, 13 June 2025
Mickey 17: Plot, Cast, Run Time Directed by Bong Joon Ho (Parasite, Okja) and set in the near future, Mickey 17 follows Mickey Barnes, a down on his luck sad sack who escapes Earth after getting into trouble with a loan shark.
—Rudie Obias, HollywoodReporter, 8 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sad sack
Cite this Entry
“Sad sack.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sad%20sack. Accessed 17 Dec. 2025.
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