as in target
a person or thing that is the object of abuse, criticism, or ridicule
those stupid comments just made him a sitting duck for comedians
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Recent Examples of sitting duck
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
Bermuda faces a rare one-two punch Bermuda is a sitting duck in the path of twin storms that could deliver a punishing blow this week, even for the seasoned and storm-tested islands.
—Briana Waxman, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sitting duck
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
Bermuda faces a rare one-two punch Bermuda is a sitting duck in the path of twin storms that could deliver a punishing blow this week, even for the seasoned and storm-tested islands.
—Briana Waxman, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sitting duck
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sitting duck
Noun
-
Dubai International Airport, the busiest airport in the world, was one of the targets.—
Robert Stewart,
The Washington Examiner,
8 Mar. 2026
-
In military parlance, this usually translates to one attack on a specific target that might involve multiple weapons.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
8 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The March 2 indictments allege that Brigham used Snapchat and text messages to talk to his victim, at one point receiving a photo of the girl’s genitalia.—
Julia Coin,
Charlotte Observer,
6 Mar. 2026
-
In some cases, the department inadvertently released nude photos showing the faces of potential victims as well as names, email addresses and other identifying information that was either unredacted or not fully obscured.—
Alanna Durkin Richer,
Fortune,
6 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Sitting duck.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sitting%20duck. Accessed 12 Mar. 2026.
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