getting sacked

Meanings

1. 1phrasefixed phraseinformalBritish

   Losing your job because your employer decides to dismiss you, usually for doing something wrong.

   Grammar: Used after 'be' or as a subject: 'He's getting sacked' or 'Getting sacked was a shock.' The base form is 'get sacked'.

   Patterns

   • be getting sacked
   • getting sacked for something
   • getting sacked from a job
   • risk getting sacked

   She's getting sacked on Friday because she keeps arriving late.

   He told everyone he was getting sacked for arguing with the manager.

   Nobody wants to talk about getting sacked in front of the whole team.

2. 2phrasefixed phraseinformalsport

   Being removed from a position or team because you are no longer wanted.

   Grammar: Also used with a subject that is not a person: 'The coach is getting sacked at the end of the season.'

   Patterns

   • be getting sacked
   • getting sacked after a bad season

   The manager is getting sacked after only three months in the job.

   Fans were angry when the captain started getting sacked for no clear reason.

Word forms

Common combinations

getting sacked from a job

After getting sacked from his job, he took a month off.

risk getting sacked

If you keep missing deadlines, you risk getting sacked.

getting sacked for something

She's getting sacked for sharing company files.

end up getting sacked

He argued with the boss again and ended up getting sacked.

threaten someone with getting sacked

The supervisor threatened us with getting sacked if we complained.

Synonyms and how they differ

getting fired

The usual American term for the same thing; it sounds neutral rather than slangy.

losing your job

A softer, more general phrase that doesn't say whether the worker or the employer made the decision.

being dismissed

A formal or legal way to say it, often used in official letters and reports.

getting laid off

This means losing a job because the company has no work or money, not because of anything you did.

Opposites

Word family

sack verb

To dismiss someone from a job, used mainly in British English.

sacking noun

The act of dismissing someone from a job.

sackable adjective

Rare, formal: serious enough to make someone lose their job.

Commonly confused: getting sacked or getting sacked? getting sacked or getting sick?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “getting sacked”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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