loser

American  

[loo-zer] / ˈlu zər /

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. (opposed to 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.

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loser British  

/ 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

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loser Idioms  

1. see under finders, keepers.

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Other Word Forms

• nonloser noun

Etymology

Origin of loser

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

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

Sydney Buckley and her husband, René Barajas Jr., moved out of the West Palm Beach area, which is now a net loser of domestic migrants, last September.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026

Ultimate fighting cage matches, despite their ferocity, have set rules and time limits, and end with a clear winner and a loser.

From BBC • Apr. 12, 2026

Amazon Prime Video is paying $1.5 billion a year for the rights to “Thursday Night Football,” a package that was a money loser when carried by the broadcast networks.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

The loser of that race, Jefferson Griffin said, Yeah, the rules that were in place at the time, they shouldn’t have been the rules.

From Slate • Mar. 30, 2026

Lyons did not allege race discrimination, but if he had, that claim would almost certainly have been a loser too.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Related Words

• also-ran
• underdog