sad sack en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
US 1920s. Popularized by Sad Sack, a cartoon character and eponymous comic strip published originally June 1942 in Yank, the Army Weekly, a US Army publication for soldiers, and later syndicated in the US 1940s and 1950s. Presumably from vulgar “sad sack of shit” as cartoonist Sgt. George Baker said he took it from a “longer phrase, of a derogatory nature”. The term originally referred to a well-meaning but inept soldier.
Meanings
-
(US) An incompetent or inept person.
One law enforcement official played down Mr. Defreitas’s ability to carry out an attack, calling him “a sad sack” and “not a Grade A terrorist.”
2007 June 3, Cara Buckley, William K. Rashbaum, “4 Men Accused of Plot to Blow Up Kennedy Airport Terminals and Fuel Lines”, in New York Times, retrieved 05 Apr 2015:
-
(US) A perennial failure or victim of misfortune.
Weary of his drab life with its nowhere job, failed marriage, boring girlfriend, and estranged teenage son, a middle-aged sad sack fakes his death, changes his identity, and hits the road.
2013 April 27, “Movie capsules: Arthur Newman”, in Boston Globe, retrieved 05 Apr 2015:So Samantha, the A.I. assistant with whom the sad-sack divorcé Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) fell in love in “Her,” felt like a futuristic revelation.
2024 May 20, Alissa Wilkinson, “What We Lose When ChatGPT Sounds Like Scarlett Johansson”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:In this case, it’s a sad-sack, married literature professor named Mark (played by Michael Angarano), who locks in on Margo and—correctly—identifies her writing potential.
2026 April 23, Sophie Gilbert, “Life Isn’t Easy in the OnlyFans Economy”, in Jeffrey Goldberg, editor, The Atlantic, Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC:“Super Sad” takes as its Romeo and Juliet, its Tristan and Iseult, a middle-aged sad sack named Lenny Abramov and a much younger beauty named Eunice Park.
2010 July 26, Michiko Kakutani, “Love Found Amid Ruins of Empire”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:We meet him as he's on his way out, taking the news with equal parts tantrum and sad-sack acceptance.
2014 March 29, Zach Schonfeld, “Film Review: Jason Schwartzman Is Charmingly Inept in 7 Chinese Brothers”, in Newsweek, retrieved 05 Apr 2015:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| sad sacks | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| sadsack | alternative | lexicographic |
Relateds
shitbag · Sad act · sack of shit