sad sack

American  

noun

Slang.

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

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sad sack British  

noun

1. slang an inept person who makes mistakes despite good intentions

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sad sack Idioms  

1. 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.

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Other Word Forms

• sad-sack adjective

Etymology

Origin of sad sack

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

Example Sentences

Post Malone, “Austin” On which our face-tattooed sad sack trades woozy rap beats for gleaming alt-rock guitars — then discovers that nirvana remains just out of reach.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 6, 2023

Would that Christmas sad sack be hosting a cooking show on TikTok?

From Seattle Times • Nov. 6, 2023

The younger Hoffman’s messy hair and hangdog face do little to explain why, exactly, Sam is such a sad sack.

From New York Times • Nov. 10, 2022

Delaney and Cassidy are terrific as sibling rivals, with Delaney's Hatch taking the sad sack role as the wise loser everyone disregards.

From Salon • Apr. 24, 2022

The same problem plagues sad sack Ken, who, aside from being underwritten, is saddled with the worst of the film’s gross-out humor.

From Washington Post • Sep. 7, 2021