loser

[loo-zer]

noun

1. a person, team, nation, etc., that loses.

   The visiting team was the loser in the series.

2. Informal.

   1. a person who has been convicted of a misdemeanor or, especially, a felony.

      a two-time loser.

   2. a person who has failed at a particular activity.

      a loser at marriage.

   3. someone or something that is marked by consistently or thoroughly bad quality, performance, etc. (winner ).

      Don't bother to see that film, it's a real loser.

3. Slang.,  a misfit, especially someone who has never or seldom been successful at a job, personal relationship, etc.

loser

/ ˈluːzə /

noun

1. a person or thing that loses

2. a person or thing that seems destined to be taken advantage of, fail, etc

   a born loser

3. bridge a card that will not take a trick

Other Word Forms

• nonloser noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of loser¹

1300–50; Middle English losere destroyer; lose, -er ¹

Idioms and Phrases

see under finders, keepers.

Example Sentences

The selloff is also providing hints about who the biggest losers could be.

Read more on MarketWatch

“Nobody has a lower impression of men” than manosphere creators like Atlas, he argued, because they present most men as “losers or simps.”

Read more on Salon

See also: These AI ‘loser’ stocks were left for dead.

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If your asset mix isn’t where it should be, consider selling some winners and buying some losers—or relative losers.

Read more on Barron's

He was a loser who needed sobriety badly, and I enabled his addiction behaviors; it was exhausting and infuriating for them to deal with it all.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• also-ran 
• underdog