sad sack

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noun Slang.

a pathetically inept person, especially a soldier, who continually blunders in spite of good intentions.

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Origin of sad sack

After the cartoon character created in 1942 by U.S. cartoonist George Baker (1915–75)

OTHER WORDS FROM sad sack

sad-sack, adjective

Words nearby sad sack

sadomasochism, sadomasochistic, Sadová, Sadowa, SADS, sad sack, sad tree, SAE, Saehrimnir, Saemisch's operation, Saemisch's section

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use sad sack in a sentence

Yet this, in the end, is a book from which one emerges sad, gloomy, disenchanted, at least if we agree to take it seriously.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim President|Pierre Assouline|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Haha, what a sad thing to be great at, but yeah, I guess I am.
Patton Oswalt on Fighting Conservatives With Satire|William O’Connor|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
A sad-faced orange Star of David flashed across the iPhone screen as we swiped left on “James” (not his real name).
My Week on Jewish Tinder|Emily Shire|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Lady Edith is so sad that her sadness nearly set the whole damned house on fire.
‘Downton Abbey’ Review: A Fire, Some Sex, and Sad, Sad Edith|Kevin Fallon|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST

The trio formed the Sad Boys collective, with Sherm and Gud on production and Lean manning the mic.
The Cult of Yung Lean: ‘I’m Building An Anarchistic Society From the Ground Up’|Marlow Stern|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The sad end of the mission to King M'Bongo has been narrated in the body of this work.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
All through the sad duties of the next four days Felipe was conscious of the undercurrent of this premonition.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
She looked up at him with sad and eloquent eyes, which softened his heart in spite of himself.
Rosemary in Search of a Father|C. N. Williamson
It was a sad day for Ramona and Alessandro when the kindly Hyers pulled up their tent-stakes and left the valley.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
Somehow it made me feel sad to hear it, and a sense of the transitoriness of things came over me.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay

British Dictionary definitions for sad sack

sad sack

noun

US slang an inept person who makes mistakes despite good intentions

Word Origin for sad sack

C20: from a cartoon character created by G. Baker, US cartoonist

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with sad sack

sad sack

A singularly inept person, as in Poor George is a hopeless sad sack. This term alludes to a cartoon character, Sad Sack, invented by George Baker in 1942 and representing a soldier in ill-fitting uniform who failed at whatever he tried to do. It was soon transferred to clumsily inept civilians.

sad sack

Origin of sad sack

OTHER WORDS FROM sad sack

Words nearby sad sack

Words related to sad sack

How to use sad sack in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for sad sack

Word Origin for sad sack

Other Idioms and Phrases with sad sack