bottom feeder

American  

[bot-uhm fee-der] / ˈbɒt əm ˌfi dər /

Sometimes bottom-fisher or bottom-feeder

noun

1. bottom fish.

2. an opportunist, as in politics or business.

   bottom feeders who buy up commercial failures.

3. a person or thing having low status or value; loser.

   bottom feeders hanging out in seedy bars.

4. a person who appeals to base instincts.

   Gossip columnists are the bottom feeders of journalism.

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bottom feeder British  

noun

1. a fish that feeds on material at the bottom of a river, lake, sea, etc

2. an objectionable and unimpressive person or thing

3. Also called: bottom fisher.  a speculator who buys shares in companies that are performing poorly in anticipation of improved performance

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Etymology

Origin of bottom feeder

First recorded in 1850–55

Example Sentences

The tabloid’s reporting on Edwards won new respect for a publication that had been derided as a bottom feeder in news media circles.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 3, 2024

“We’re like this entertainment-industry bottom feeder, and as such we have a ton of creative freedom to really define what the American pub quiz actually is.”

From The Guardian • Mar. 5, 2020

A bottom feeder pretends to be a fearsome shark slayer after the son of a finned hoodlum meets an accidental death.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 13, 2019

When a columnist wrote a nasty piece dismissing the First Bloke as a “hipster salty seadog,” he tweeted a picture of himself holding a fish and calling it another bottom feeder.

From New York Times • Sep. 8, 2018

It is very largely a bottom feeder and, therefore, rather of a sluggish nature.

From Game Birds and Game Fishes of the Pacific Coast by Payne, Harry Thom