sunk

American  

[suhngk] / sʌŋk /

verb

1. a simple past tense and past participle of sink.

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adjective

1. Informal. beyond help; done for; washed up.

   If they catch you cheating, you're really sunk.

2. Nautical. (of a forecastle or poop) raised less than a full deck above the weather deck of a ship.

sunk British  

/ sʌŋk /

verb

1. a past participle of sink

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adjective

1. informal with all hopes dashed; ruined

   if the police come while we're opening the safe, we'll be sunk

Other Word Forms

• half-sunk adjective
• unsunk adjective

Etymology

Origin of sunk

First recorded in 1925–30 sunk for def. 2

Compare meaning

How does sunk compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• sank vs. sunk

Example Sentences

Everything they had except for the shotgun and the parkas on their backs had just sunk to the bottom of the lake.

From Literature

Markets have sunk globally this week, and Wall Street's three main indexes tanked Tuesday as they reopened after a long weekend.

From Barron's

China's population fell for the fourth straight year in 2025 as its birth rates sunk to a record low, despite the government rolling out a spate of incentives to boost them.

From BBC

Eastlake, a lifelong Newcastle United fan, said seeing black-and-white flags on the Strand had not yet sunk in.

From BBC

And to finish me off, I sunk my teeth into two slices of pecan pie.

From Literature

Related Words

• desperate
• forlorn
• helpless
• impossible
• pointless
• sad
• tragic
• useless