plural chumps
informal : a person who is easily tricked : a stupid or foolish person
When you get down to it, he's a sucker. A chump. He's spent more time and money on me in six weeks than all the men I've known put together.Terry McMillan
see also chump change

Examples of chump in a Sentence

the guy trying to unload that used car must have thought that I was a chump
Recent Examples on the Web The Yiddish term encompasses a range of pejorative types, from chump to fool to awkward bungler. TIME, 2 Feb. 2024 As to any concern about the Orioles having the last word and making chumps out of the football team, Kelso said that’s what the parity clause is for — and why the Ravens don’t need to talk publicly about the Orioles lease negotiations. Jeff Barker, Baltimore Sun, 13 Sep. 2023 Lane, often portrayed as either an intrepid journalist or a love-lorn chump, is decidedly the former here. Daniel Dockery, Vulture, 6 July 2023 The former Gladiators who felt exploited by the show don’t want to be seen as chumps. Noel Murray, Los Angeles Times, 30 May 2023 Shell is not entering the EV charging game with this chump-change purchase of Volta. Sebastian Blanco, Car and Driver, 1 Apr. 2023 And don't be the new-car chump. Carla Fried, Star Tribune, 13 Feb. 2021 In my first biology textbooks in middle or high school, an 18th-century French biologist named Jean-Baptiste Lamarck was the chump of the chapters on evolution. Elizabeth Preston, Discover Magazine, 27 Apr. 2011 Nash thinks that the butterfly uses M.ruginodis as a back-up host, a safe chump to manipulate when M.rubra evolves a strong enough resistance to its lies. Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 16 Oct. 2010

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'chump.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

perhaps blend of chunk and lump

First Known Use

1872, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of chump was in 1872

Dictionary Entries Near chump

Cite this Entry

“Chump.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chump. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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