sucker
sucker Lexical Profile
sucker Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A gullible or easily deceived person, or someone who has an irresistible fondness or weakness for a particular thing.
"The con artist quickly realized the tourist was an easy sucker for counterfeit watches."
North American A piece of hard candy mounted on the end of a small stick and meant to be sucked; a lollipop.
"The pediatrician handed the brave child a cherry-flavored sucker after the checkup."
A specialized cup-shaped organ or disk on the body of certain animals, such as octopuses, squids, or leeches, used for adhering to surfaces or hosts by creating suction.
"Each arm of the giant Pacific octopus is lined with two rows of powerful muscular suckers."
A secondary shoot or sprout that grows directly from the root or lower stem of a plant or tree, often drawing nutrients away from the main stem.
"Gardeners regularly prune the suckers from the base of tomato plants to encourage larger fruit."
Any of various freshwater ray-finned fishes of the family Catostomidae, native primarily to North America and characterized by thick, fleshy, downward-facing lips adapted for bottom-feeding by suction.
"Anglers fishing along the river bottom frequently catch white suckers among the stones."
• verb
To trick, deceive, or gull someone into doing something foolish or disadvantageous.
"The aggressive salesperson suckered him into buying an expensive extended warranty he did not need."
To strip secondary shoots or suckers from a plant, or to send out such shoots from the roots or lower stem.
"The farmers spent the morning suckering the tobacco plants to ensure healthy leaf growth."
• Rhymes for sucker
Word Origin & Etymology
Formed in Middle English as an agent noun from the verb 'suck' (from Old English 'sucan') plus the suffix '-er'. The colloquial sense of a gullible person emerged in 19th-century American English, likely comparing a naive newcomer to an unweaned young mammal or to the easily caught freshwater sucker fish.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.