LOSER

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does loser mean? 

• LOSER (noun)
  The noun LOSER has 3 senses:

1. a contestant who loses the contest

2. a person with a record of failing; someone who loses consistently

3. a gambler who loses a bet

  Familiarity information: LOSER used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LOSER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A contestant who loses the contest

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

also-ran; loser

Hypernyms ("loser" is a kind of...):

contestant (a person who participates in competitions)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "loser"):

old maid (the loser in a game of old maid)

Antonym:

winner (the contestant who wins the contest)

Derivation:

lose (fail to win)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A person with a record of failing; someone who loses consistently

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

failure; loser; nonstarter; unsuccessful person

Hypernyms ("loser" is a kind of...):

unfortunate; unfortunate person (a person who suffers misfortune)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "loser"):

bankrupt; insolvent (someone who has insufficient assets to cover their debts)

flash in the pan (someone who enjoys transient success but then fails)

dud; flop; washout (someone who is unsuccessful)

underdog (one at a disadvantage and expected to lose)

Antonym:

achiever (a person with a record of successes)

Derivation:

lose (fail to win)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A gambler who loses a bet

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("loser" is a kind of...):

gambler (a person who wagers money on the outcome of games or sporting events)

Antonym:

winner (a gambler who wins a bet)

Derivation:

lose (fail to win)

lose (fail to make money in a business; make a loss or fail to profit)

 Context examples 

The Canadian Government would be no loser, nor would its despatches travel the slower.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

“That’s very well said,” returned the lawyer; “and whatever comes of it, I shall make it my business to see you are no loser.”

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

If I use it for you, then I expect that you won’t see me the loser.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She would be a loser in every way.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

“We shall be the losers,” continued Sir Thomas.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Let me have the straight tip and you won’t be a loser.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The community is certainly the gainer, and no one the loser, save the poor out-of-work specialist, whose occupation has gone.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

In the morning, too, when I felt weary, and should have enjoyed another hour's repose very much, it was a tiresome thing to be roused, like the Sultana Scheherazade, and forced into a long story before the getting-up bell rang; but Steerforth was resolute; and as he explained to me, in return, my sums and exercises, and anything in my tasks that was too hard for me, I was no loser by the transaction.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He would scarcely be ten pounds a year the loser by the hundred that was to be paid them; for, what with her board and pocket allowance, and the continual presents in money which passed to her through her mother's hands, Lydia's expenses had been very little within that sum.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

New research reveals how two penguin species, the gentoo and the chinstrap, have dealt with more than a century of human impacts in Antarctica, and why some species are winners and others are losers in this rapidly changing ecosystem.

(Whaling and climate change lead to 100 years of feast or famine for Antarctic penguins, National Science Foundation)