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
sad-sack adjective

Examples of sad sack in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web January’s Secret: January is often considered to be the sad sack of months. Kate Brody, New York Times, 13 Jan. 2024 Her only colleagues are a father-son duo: Hank (John Hawkes), a sad sack pining for his mail order bride, and Prior (Finn Bennett), a young father whose dedication to the job causes a rift with his wife Kayla (Anna Lambe), who’s putting herself through nursing school. Alison Herman, Variety, 12 Jan. 2024 The Chargers are a sad sack organization that will never build a team worthy of a talent like Herbert. Los Angeles Times, 16 Dec. 2023 Paul Matthews is a fiercely memorable loser, a sad sack who bristles with recognizably Cageian energy. Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times, 9 Nov. 2023 His newest, a dark comedy with elements of horror and epic adventure, stars Joaquin Phoenix as a middle-aged sad sack who learns his mom has died and takes one seriously weird Homeric journey home that puts his life and mental health in danger. Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 12 Aug. 2023 The truth is that Dermott and Hank are half-brothers by way of Doc being … well, an even more nauseating sad sack than previously thought. Mat Olson, Vulture, 19 July 2023 In American movies, a sad sack is a sociopath-in-waiting, a ticking time bomb preparing to explode, whereas a British sad sack is merely a human machine going through the motions of life, a ticking clock that is simply winding down. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 13 Dec. 2022 Hey, sport: After taking two out of three from the Stankees, the Red Sox pop down to Pittsburgh for a three-game interleague series against the sad sack Pirates (45-70) starting tonight, then head to Baltimore for a weekend series against the Orioles. Teresa M. Hanafin, BostonGlobe.com, 16 Aug. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sad sack.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1942, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of sad sack was in 1942

Dictionary Entries Near sad sack

Cite this Entry

“Sad sack.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sad%20sack. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

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