sucker
Americannoun
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a person or thing that sucks.
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Informal. a person easily cheated, deceived, or imposed upon.
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an infant or a young animal that is suckled, especially a suckling pig.
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a part or organ of an animal adapted for sucking nourishment, or for adhering to an object as by suction.
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any of several freshwater, mostly North American food fishes of the family Catostomidae, having thick lips: some are now rare.
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Informal. a lollipop.
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the piston of a pump that works by suction, or the valve of such a piston.
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a pipe or tube through which something is drawn or sucked.
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Botany. a shoot rising from a subterranean stem or root.
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Informal. a person attracted to something as indicated.
He's a sucker for new clothes.
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Slang. any person or thing.
He's one of those smart, handsome suckers everybody likes. They're good boots, but the suckers pinch my feet.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
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a person or thing that sucks
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slang a person who is easily deceived or swindled
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slang a person who cannot resist the attractions of a particular type of person or thing
he's a sucker for blondes
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a young animal that is not yet weaned, esp a suckling pig
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zoology an organ that is specialized for sucking or adhering
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a cup-shaped device, generally made of rubber, that may be attached to articles allowing them to adhere to a surface by suction
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botany
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a strong shoot that arises in a mature plant from a root, rhizome, or the base of the main stem
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a short branch of a parasitic plant that absorbs nutrients from the host
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a pipe or tube through which a fluid is drawn by suction
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any small mainly North American cyprinoid fish of the family Catostomidae, having toothless jaws and a large sucking mouth
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any of certain fishes that have sucking discs, esp the clingfish or sea snail
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a piston in a suction pump or the valve in such a piston
verb
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(tr) to strip off the suckers from (a plant)
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(intr) (of a plant) to produce suckers
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A part by which an animal sucks blood from or uses suction to cling to another animal. Leeches and remoras have suckers.
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A shoot growing from the base or root of a tree or shrub and giving rise to a new plant, a clone of the plant from which it comes. The growth of suckers is a form of asexual reproduction.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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suckersimple
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suckerssimple
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have suckeredperfect
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has suckeredperfect
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am suckeringprogressive
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are suckeringprogressive
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is suckeringprogressive
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have been suckeringperfect progressive
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has been suckeringperfect progressive
Past
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suckeredsimple
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had suckeredperfect
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was suckeringprogressive
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were suckeringprogressive
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had been suckeringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sucker
1350–1400; 1835–45 sucker for def. 2; Middle English; see suck, -er 1
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:
The Three Lions were five minutes from a first final appearance in 60 years, until the defending champions produced a two-goal sucker punch to rescue a 2-1 win.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026
It was Barnum who said not only that a sucker was born every minute, but that you should “never give a sucker an even break.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026
Even among "other species with short little arms and a single sucker row, its colouration and smooth skin on the back surface separate it", she added.
From Barron's ● May 25, 2026
The part of me that’s a sucker for goal-setting and self-transformation also wondered: What if, rather than reject the parenting canon, I were to embrace it?
From Slate ● May 10, 2026
He wasn’t going to let Garvey sucker him into getting mad and blowing this chance to avoid jail.
From "Touching Spirit Bear" by Ben Mikaelsen
People made fun of the way the Knicks courted stars like LeBron James, as if those suckers actually had a chance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026
"Its stubby little arms with only one row of suckers set it apart from most octopus we are familiar with," Voight said.
From Barron's ● May 25, 2026
A giant squid was washed up dead at nearby Newburgh in 1998, but the suckers on the Forvie arms did not have teeth like a squid's.
From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2025
On their debut EP “Awake in Non-Dreams,” Coworkers smirk at the suckers who got taken in by promises of safety and comfort now that everyone else lives as precariously as residents of the Crescent City.
From Salon ● Jun. 28, 2025
The cars whizzed past, the suckers failed to connect, the faces fell back.
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
First, don’t assume you’re too sophisticated to be suckered.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
They don’t have to outrun the bear, they just have to be faster than whatever normie investor gets suckered into buying SpaceX when it enters the index without being properly seasoned.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
I imagined them recounting stories of the various customers they had suckered during the day.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 18, 2025
Carse showed agility to hold Tom Latham one-handed in his follow-through, then suckered Rachin Ravindra into edging a wide one.
From BBC ● Dec. 7, 2024
Emma suckered them into letting me babysit her, except for the mornings I had to go to summer school.
From "Wintergirls" by Laurie Halse Anderson
Give this plant some room, and avoid disturbing the roots to reduce suckering.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 29, 2023
Sadly, disingenuous trolling is often far too successful at suckering people into engagement.
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2023
Pearce showed me many spicebush specimens that were browsed but are now suckering afresh.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 14, 2021
Most problematically, Vladimir’s and Estragon’s embraces, so necessary to the play’s emotional equilibrium, are about as warm here as octopi suckering up to opposite sides of a glass wall.
From New York Times ● May 7, 2021
“Not suckering me here, are you, Jace? Tell you what, how about fleecing me for one pound?”
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
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.
