loser
Americannoun
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losers
plural
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a person, team, nation, etc., that loses.
The visiting team was the loser in the series.
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Informal.
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a person who has been convicted of a misdemeanor or, especially, a felony.
a two-time loser.
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a person who has failed at a particular activity.
a loser at marriage.
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someone or something that is marked by consistently or thoroughly bad quality, performance, etc. (opposed to winner).
Don't bother to see that film, it's a real loser.
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Slang. a misfit, especially someone who has never or seldom been successful at a job, personal relationship, etc.
noun
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a person or thing that loses
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a person or thing that seems destined to be taken advantage of, fail, etc
a born loser
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bridge a card that will not take a trick
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of loser
Explanation
A loser is the team or person that did not win or succeed. In pond hockey, the loser has to hose down the ice to make it smooth again. You may have heard loser used to insult someone who has not had a lot of success in life, someone who might not have many friends. This mean slang took root in the 1950s but it wasn't until the 1990s that kids who loved indie rock reclaimed it as an anti-hero badge of honor, wearing t-shirts with "Loser" written in huge letters across the front. This ironic gesture was meant to show the jocks who the real cool kids were.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
So although it’s always worth taking them with a grain of salt, last night’s bigger loser was betting markets, whose predictive power in Wisconsin was effectively zero.
From Slate ● Aug. 12, 2026
Tesla, which actually wanted to make EVs, was a net loser under U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
Shares have gone from AI loser to winner and back again as investors fret about higher interest rates and hyperscalers’ aggressive AI spending plans.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
Ostapenko will face either Antonia Ruzic of Croatia or compatriot Darja Semenistaja - the lucky loser who replaced Raducanu in the draw.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026
Unless, of course, he wanted to go home a loser.
From "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library" by Chris Grabenstein
The big losers are lawmakers, who must pay market rates for debt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
On 10 occasions the two teams have finished as the top two in the Premier League - with four of those times being the Shield winners top and the losers as runners-up.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
“Just hearing about this dumb $20 burrito debate so just thought I’d make the losers on social media angry before going to bed,” Crenshaw wrote.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
Then there are ideas for compensating job losers such as wage insurance or “universal basic income.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
A population of organisms in the wild must have enough natural variation such that winners and losers can be picked.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
