loser
/ˈluːzə
/noun
1A person or thing that loses or has lost something, especially a game or contest: he was the loser in last year’s race for governor...
- One of the contest losers notices all this and sues.
- If the game is as good as the league final their supporters are in for a real treat, and even though the losers in both games have one more chance no team wants to lose.
- The team captains hold aloft the cup and together pull it apart to reveal two specially-made halves - in this game there are no losers.
Synonyms
defeated person, also-ran, the defeated, the vanquished;
runner-up
1.1 [with adjective] A person who accepts defeat with good or bad grace: they should concede that we won and be good losers...
- A sore loser, Grace thought, too bad… no doubt he'll want a rematch.
- Like most men or women who attain distinction in their chosen sport, and whose competitive streak is almost visible, Harry is a self-confessed rotten loser.
- The runner-up received 2973 votes from the public and was a really good loser on the day.
1.2A person who is disadvantaged by a particular situation or course of action: children are the losers when politicians keep fiddling around with education...
- Where there are winners, of course, there are losers, and the electricity generator company was among them.
- The only losers in this situation are the multinational drug companies, and anyone else who benefits from big drug sales.
- Of course, the real losers in that are the pilots and the plan participants.
1.3 informal A person who fails frequently or is generally unsuccessful in life: a ragtag community of rejects and losers...
- You must be losing it by now, crumbling under my assault, failing like the loser you are!
- I don't know how I could have failed against a complete loser like you!
- I went into this room filled with losers and rejects of all varieties.
Synonyms
failure, non-achiever, underachiever, ne'er-do-well, born loser, dead loss, nonentity, nobody;
write-off, has-been
informal flop, dud, non-starter, no-hoper, washout, lemon, two-time loser
1.4 Bridge A card that is expected to be part of a losing trick: South appeared to have three losers: a trump, a diamond, and a spade...
- Non-aces out of trump are almost always losers, even though they might earn points in meld.
- Queens, jacks and nines are called losers (though they can occasionally win a trick).
Phrases
be on (or on to) a loser
Rhymes
- Berliner
- Berlin, Irving
- Berlin, Sir Isaiah
- Berlin Wall
- Berlin work
- Berlioz, Hector
- Berlusconi, Silvio
- berm
- Bermuda
- Bermuda grass
- Bermuda High
- Bermuda Hundred
- Bermudan
- Bermuda onion
- Bermuda rig
- Bermudas
- Bermuda shorts
- Bermuda Triangle
- Bermudian
- Bern
- Bernadette, St
- Bernadotte, Folke
- Bernadotte, Jean Baptiste Jules
- Bernard, Claude
- Bernard of Clairvaux, St