sunk
Americanverb
adjective
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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.
In the immediacy of Disney, it sunk in as wondrous reflection on Donne’s line: “Though I speed not, I cannot miss.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2026
Price-conscious consumers and off-trend Old Navy dresses may have sunk Gap’s stock on Friday, but some of the clothing retailer’s most prolonged struggles have been in its smallest and most-overlooked brand: Athleta.
From MarketWatch • May 31, 2026
When dealing with Jobs, the sunk cost fallacy was no fallacy at all.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 17, 2026
"It's always been what-if, and now the what-if has come true. It still hasn't sunk in that I'll be there on 17 May playing."
From BBC • May 16, 2026
Everything they had except for the shotgun and the parkas on their backs had just sunk to the bottom of the lake.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
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.
