sad sack
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Noun:
- An inept or incompetent person who habitually makes mistakes or fails: "sad sack" refers to a person who is consistently unsuccessful or bumbling due to a lack of skill or ability, often eliciting pity or mild derision.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- Don't put him in charge of the project; he's a real sad sack when it comes to organization.
- Everyone felt sorry for the sad sack who kept dropping his papers in the hallway.
Advanced Usage
- As a character type: The term can describe a stock character, often in comedies, who is perpetually unlucky and inept.
- The movie's comic relief was a classic sad sack who couldn't do anything right.
Variants and Related Words
- Inept person (n): A more formal term for someone without skill.
- Bungler (n): Someone who acts or works clumsily.
- Schlemiel (n): (Informal, from Yiddish) A chronically unlucky or inept person.
Synonyms
- Incompetent: A person not having the necessary skills or ability.
- Bumbler: Someone who makes mistakes through clumsiness or lack of skill.
- Loser: (Informal, often derogatory) A person who is generally unsuccessful.
Related Idioms
- A born loser: Someone who seems destined to fail.
- He's such a sad sack, a real born loser.
- Can't get out of his own way: Describes someone whose own actions create problems.
- He's a sad sack who can't get out of his own way.
Noun
- someone who makes mistakes because of incompetence