sitting duck
noun
: an easy or defenseless target
Left unguarded, the fort was a sitting duck for enemy attack.
Examples of sitting duck in a Sentence
The tourists were sitting ducks for local thieves.
those stupid comments just made him a sitting duck for comedians
Recent Examples on the Web
In other words, a sitting duck.
—
Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 9 Dec. 2025
Club owners are kind of sitting ducks.
—Keith Sharon, Nashville Tennessean, 21 Oct. 2025
Prisoners feared they were purposefully trapped in the A Tunnel, sitting ducks for a response from corrections officers.
—Michael Collins, USA Today, 14 Oct. 2025
Those lucky/sitting ducks were at the center of a manifold creative pressure, like the core of a planet pulled spherical by gravity.
—Kate Colby
october 2, Literary Hub, 2 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sitting duck
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 9 Dec. 2025
Club owners are kind of sitting ducks.
—Keith Sharon, Nashville Tennessean, 21 Oct. 2025
Prisoners feared they were purposefully trapped in the A Tunnel, sitting ducks for a response from corrections officers.
—Michael Collins, USA Today, 14 Oct. 2025
Those lucky/sitting ducks were at the center of a manifold creative pressure, like the core of a planet pulled spherical by gravity.
—Kate Colby
october 2, Literary Hub, 2 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sitting duck
Cite this Entry
“Sitting duck.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sitting%20duck. Accessed 20 Dec. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share