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.

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
• 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.