sucker

Meanings

1. 1nouncountableinformaldisapproving

   A person who is easily tricked, especially into spending money or believing something false.

   Grammar: Countable and rather rude; used for someone you think is gullible.

   Patterns

   • a sucker for something

   Only a sucker would pay that much for a phone case.

   The salesman treated every customer like a sucker.

   She felt like a sucker after she fell for the scam.

2. 2nouncountableinformal

   A person who cannot resist a particular thing or kind of person.

   Grammar: Used in the pattern a sucker for something.

   Patterns

   • a sucker for something

   I'm a sucker for a good love story.

   He's a sucker for anything with chocolate in it.

   She admitted she was a sucker for old movies.

3. 3nouncountableAmericaninformal

   A hard candy on a stick, meant to be sucked and licked.

   Grammar: American English; British speakers say lollipop.

   The dentist gave each child a sucker after the checkup.

   She chose a cherry sucker from the jar.

   His mouth was bright red from the sucker.

4. 4nouncountablebiology

   A body part, such as on an octopus or leech, that grips a surface by suction.

   Grammar: Biological term; usually appears in the plural when describing an animal.

   Patterns

   • the suckers on something

   The octopus held the rock with the suckers on its arms.

   A leech attaches itself by a sucker at each end.

   Each sucker can lift a surprising weight.

5. 5nouncountablespecialist

   A new shoot that grows from the roots or lower stem of a plant.

   Grammar: Gardening term; gardeners often remove suckers to help the main plant.

   The gardener cut off the suckers growing around the base of the rose.

   Suckers drain energy from the main tree.

   New suckers appeared at the edge of the lawn.

Word forms

Common combinations

a sucker for

I'm a sucker for a free sample.

sucker punch

He threw a sucker punch before the fight began.

play someone for a sucker

The con man played the tourists for suckers.

a born sucker

Don't be a born sucker; read the contract.

suckered into

He was suckered into buying an extended warranty.

Synonyms and how they differ

dupe

Dupe is more formal and describes a person who has been fooled, rather than a person who is generally gullible.

mark

Mark is slang for the person chosen as the victim of a trick, so it sounds more like a criminal's word than sucker.

pushover

Pushover describes someone who gives in easily to pressure, not specifically someone who is fooled.

gull

Gull is an old-fashioned word for a person who is tricked.

Opposites

Word family

suck verb

to draw in liquid or air with the mouth

suction noun

the force that draws something in by removing air

suckle verb

to feed a baby or young animal with milk

sucker verb

informal American, to trick someone into doing something

Commonly confused: sucker or succor?

Practice

Make it your own

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

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