sore loser

English

Noun

sore loser (plural sore losers)

1. (informal) One who complains or blames others for one's loss; one who is easily angered by losing a game or contest, or because of some other misfortune or bad luck.

   Synonyms: bad loser, hard loser, poor loser

   Coordinate terms: good loser, sore winner

   • 2004, George Carlin, “A SORE POINT”, in When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?‎^[1], New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 88:

     Regarding the criticism of Al Gore's actions upon being elected president in 2000 and realizing that the Bush family would do everything in its power to reverse the results illegally: I recall at the time hearing some of the usual morons in this country refer to President-elect Gore as a sore loser because he sought legal redress in the courts.
     Sore loser? You bet your fuckin' ass! What on earth is wrong with being a sore loser? It shows you cared about whatever the contest was in the first place. Fuck losing graciously—that's for chumps. And losers, by the way.

Derived terms

• Sore Loserman

Translations

one who is easily angered by losing

• Catalan: mal perdedor m
• Dutch: slechte verliezer m
• Finnish: huono häviäjä
• French: mauvais perdant (fr)
• German: schlechter Verlierer m; jemand, der nicht verlieren kann
• Polish: przegrany (pl) m, przegrana (pl) f, osoba nieumiejąca przegrywać f
• Portuguese: mau perdedor m, aquele que não sabe perder
• Spanish: mal perdedor m, picón m
• Swedish: dålig förlorare (sv)
• Thai: ขี้แพ้ชวนตี (th)
• Welsh: collwr gwael m, collwr sâl m

See also

• poor sport
• born loser

Further reading

• “sore loser”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.