sunk
Americanverb
adjective
-
Informal. beyond help; done for; washed up.
If they catch you cheating, you're really sunk.
-
Nautical. (of a forecastle or poop) raised less than a full deck above the weather deck of a ship.
verb
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sunk
First recorded in 1925–30 sunk for def. 2
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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.
Whatever that is, it is not the story of a man sunk by leather.
From Salon ● Nov. 5, 2026
The percentage of those surveyed willing to go the extra mile to help their employer has sunk from 69% in 2015 to 55% in 2025, according to their survey of 4,656 adults.
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026
The JCI closed 0.94 percent higher on Wednesday, having sunk earlier in the week to its lowest level since late 2020.
From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026
She also had a close call with the sunk cost fallacy: the failure to disengage from a probably doomed pursuit because of the time already invested in it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2026
I slumped my shoulders down and sunk onto the floor.
From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
