sad sack
noun
US, informal
: a blundering, inept person
… a sad sack so unlucky in love that when his girlfriend splits, his family sides with her.—
Rand Richards Cooper
Rand Richards Cooper
Examples of sad sack in a Sentence
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There’s a wry grace to this misadventure-palooza, forged in the key of melancholic mid-career Woody Allen but with variations on those themes which achieve their own pointedly funny clarity, especially where Ubeimar Rios’ all-time portrayal of a sad sack is concerned.
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 30 Jan. 2026
In doing so, Trump is like a one-man United Nations, doing the work in the Middle East and elsewhere around the world that the sad sack UN cannot or will not do.
—Peter Lucas, Boston Herald, 22 Jan. 2026
The Pleasure of Being Robbed) or in tandem with his brother Benny (Daddy Long Legs, Good Time, Uncut Gems), Safdie specializes in giving sad sacks a sympathetic spotlight while keeping things raw, rough, and paced like a Rube Goldberg machine of chaos.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 1 Dec. 2025
The nephew of Back to the Future (1985) star Christopher Lloyd, Sam Lloyd was featured on shows like 3rd Rock From the Sun and Bill Lawrence's Spin City before playing the lovable sad sack Ted on Scrubs.
—James Mercadante, EW.com, 21 July 2025
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Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 30 Jan. 2026
In doing so, Trump is like a one-man United Nations, doing the work in the Middle East and elsewhere around the world that the sad sack UN cannot or will not do.
—Peter Lucas, Boston Herald, 22 Jan. 2026
The Pleasure of Being Robbed) or in tandem with his brother Benny (Daddy Long Legs, Good Time, Uncut Gems), Safdie specializes in giving sad sacks a sympathetic spotlight while keeping things raw, rough, and paced like a Rube Goldberg machine of chaos.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 1 Dec. 2025
The nephew of Back to the Future (1985) star Christopher Lloyd, Sam Lloyd was featured on shows like 3rd Rock From the Sun and Bill Lawrence's Spin City before playing the lovable sad sack Ted on Scrubs.
—James Mercadante, EW.com, 21 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for sad sack
Cite this Entry
“Sad sack.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sad%20sack. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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