easy mark
9
7.1
- noun
- Offensive
:
presa fácil
- He was an easy mark.
- look like an easy mark
- just an easy mark
- makes him an easy mark
This might explain why EA was such an easy mark for crypto.
- This might explain why EA was such an easy mark for crypto.
Examples
-
You are an easy mark for them!
Blog text (17) -
We were easy marks for you, weren't we?
Fiction book (1993) -
Okay, so maybe he just thought you were an easy mark.
-
Little dude like you, be an easy mark.
-
"Do I look like an easy mark?" he says.
Fiction book (2002) -
The middle class has always been an easy mark.
Academic text (2008) -
The boy was an easy mark.
Fiction book (2002) -
If I were the bad guys, those people would be easy marks.
Blog text (6) -
Make yourself an easy mark, and thieves will go after you first.
Blog text (31) -
Clever crooks often target people who appear to be an easy mark.
Synonyms
300
7.0
A person who is easily tricked
60
5.6
A person who is gentle, innocent, or easily tricked
46
8.8
A person who is easily tricked or cheated
34
3.5
A person or thing people attack and take advantage of because it is weak
33
6.8
Something that others can harm or take advantage of
24
8.2
A person who is easily tricked or cheated
14
7.0
A person who is easily tricked into believing false things
1
9.9
An old word for a person who is easily tricked
A person who trusts others and falls for tricks easily
A person who easily agrees and can be taken advantage of
Antonyms
How Gullible
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'easy' (vulnerable, readily affected) with 'mark' (a target or victim): an 'easy mark' is simply a person who is an easy target to deceive. This adjective + noun composition follows ordinary English modification patterns and is predictable for learners who know both constituent senses, so it is transparent.
Etymology
Easy mark comes from thieves or scammers who picked a mark, a person they saw as a 'target', because the person looked easy to trick. So, easy mark now means someone who is easily deceived.