suck 1 of 3

informal + sometimes impolite
as in to smell
to be objectionable or unsatisfactory it's amazing that a song that sucks so bad can be so popular

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

suck (up)

2 of 3

verb (2)

1
2
as in to soak (up)
to take in (something liquid) through small openings these lilacs sucked up all the water I added to the vase yesterday

Synonyms & Similar Words

suck-up

3 of 3

noun

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of suck
Verb
Looking to give socks that don’t suck this holiday season? Outside Online, 23 Nov. 2022 Carolyn Forté, executive director of the Good Housekeeping Institute's Home Appliances & Cleaning Products Lab, created a printable checklist to make sure keeping the house neat doesn't suck up endless hours of time on weekends anymore. Zee Krstic, Good Housekeeping, 22 Nov. 2022
Noun
Back in the dawn of the Trump era — just prior to his 2017 inauguration — the line of would-be suck-ups queuing up for face time with the president-elect included a man with a distinguished name. Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2023 Office suck-ups, popularized by television characters like Dwight Schrute in The Office and Tom Wambsgans in Succession, typically take their cues from those in charge. Matthew Boyle, Fortune, 26 Apr. 2023 See All Example Sentences for suck
Recent Examples of Synonyms for suck
Noun
  • The administration may be populated with sycophants and true believers, but Justice Department attorneys and Homeland Security officials are not stupid.
    New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 18 May 2025
  • There are still sycophants and acolytes, but no savvy producers to make his head-scratching moves appear to make sense.
    Laura Bassett, Rolling Stone, 14 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • Republican lickspittles like Lindsey Graham and Jim Banks praised Trump and trashed Zelenskyy while Russian leaders rejoiced.
    Maureen Dowd, The Mercury News, 4 Mar. 2025
  • Of course, being a junior senator and attaching your name to legislation that has little chance of being enacted—none of those have bills passed—is very different from being Vice-President and chief lickspittle to Trump.
    John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 22 July 2024
Noun
  • Courtesy of Lucasfilm On an isolated farm at the outer reaches of a fascist empire, a mid-level government toady interrogates his victims.
    Jake Kleinman, Wired News, 23 Apr. 2025
  • The anecdote illustrates the contrast in competence and grasp of real world dangers between Reagan’s team and Trump’s toadies — and also between these presidents themselves.
    George Skelton, Los Angeles Times, 31 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • Besides being massively ignorant, Musk and his minions are drunk on ideology.
    Steve Chapman, Chicago Tribune, 7 May 2025
  • Through their minions in the media, in Big Pharma, and woke teachers manipulating their children's minds, these elites hold an iron grip on society.
    Jason D. Greenblatt, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • After Christmas Day, Netflix will give fans a week to recover before dropping the finale.
    Pamela Avila, USA Today, 2 June 2025
  • Since this season’s finale, which sees Mark abandon his outie’s wife, Gemma, to run away with the anarchic Helly, Britt Lower, who plays the character, has observed fans’ impassioned response to that cliffhanger.
    Tim Grierson, Los Angeles Times, 2 June 2025
Noun
  • Bathing in the blood of virgins is just one such regime, and god help the flunky who dares displease milady.
    Dennis Harvey, Variety, 2 May 2025
  • No matter what spec-chart flunkies might say about a car that merely hits 60 mph in 3.1 seconds, GT 63 proved as ferocious and exhilarating as any front-engine GT car available, whether German, Italian or English.
    Mark Ewing, Forbes, 30 Dec. 2024
Noun
  • Water, shellfish and unwashed fruits and vegetables can also harbor infectious parasite eggs.
    Bill Sullivan, The Conversation, 28 May 2025
  • The woman, whose name is redacted from the fire department’s report, said her friend Giancarlo decided to use a lighter to remove the blood-sucking parasite.
    Ethan Baron, Mercury News, 20 May 2025
Noun
  • Peter Kwong, a martial artist and actor who played one of the Three Storms in Big Trouble in Little China and a henchman in The Golden Child during a prolific acting career and was active in actors union politics and the movie and TV academy leadership, has died.
    Erik Pedersen, Deadline, 28 May 2025
  • The film’s extended pre-title sequence culminates in Ethan brutally murdering the henchmen that Gabriel (Esai Morales) has dispatched to kill her.
    Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 23 May 2025

Cite this Entry

“Suck.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/suck. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.

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