Uncle Sucker
- noun
- Offensive
:
Tío tonto
- He fell for the scam and became an Uncle Sucker.
Examples
-
She quickly realized she was being set up as Uncle Sucker in their little game.
-
Don't let them treat you like Uncle Sucker just because you're new here.
-
Anyone could see that by investing in that scheme, he played the role of Uncle Sucker.
-
Don't be such an Uncle Sucker!
-
It's foolish to act like an Uncle Sucker when every investment has risks.
-
After falling for their tricks, he realized he had been an Uncle Sucker all along.
-
She refused to be treated as an Uncle Sucker by her unscrupulous colleagues.
Synonyms
∞
1.4
A person who makes poor decisions and is easily tricked
300
7.0
A person who is easily tricked
46
8.8
A person who is easily tricked or cheated
24
8.2
A person who is easily tricked or cheated
21
7.3
A person who is not very smart and trusts people easily
14
7.0
A person who is easily tricked into believing false things
9
7.1
A person others can easily trick or cheat
7
9.9
A person who is easily tricked or fooled
6
9.9
A person who is easily tricked and pitied by others
1
9.3
A person who is easily tricked or cheated
1
9.9
A person who is foolish and easily tricked
1
9.9
A person who trusts others too easily and gets tricked
1
9.1
A person who is easily fooled and trusts others too much
1
9.9
An old word for a person who is easily tricked
A person who is easily tricked
A foolish person who is easily tricked
How Gullible
Surface Forms
Morphology
Uncle + sucker
The core meaning comes directly from 'sucker' (a gullible person) while 'Uncle' functions as a kinship vocative or modifier and does not introduce an unpredictable idiomatic sense. A B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer that 'Uncle Sucker' refers to a (possibly familiar or teasing) gullible person, so the phrase is compositionally transparent.
Etymology
Uncle Sucker likely comes from two simple ideas: uncle meaning a friendly family member and sucker meaning old slang for someone easily tricked. One popular story says tricksters used the warm 'uncle' image to make a person feel safe, so Uncle Sucker came to mean 'a person who is easily deceived'.