Word
chump
US/ˈtʃəmp/
UK/tʃˈʌmp/
Definitions
01a gullible person
n. someone who is easily tricked or fooled by others.
n. a person who is easily deceived or taken advantage of due to a lack of suspicion or common sense.
“He felt like a chump after paying twice the price for a broken watch.”
“The con artist targeted tourists, knowing that a few unsuspecting chumps would fall for his elaborate street game.”
Informal · Slang
Teaching tip
While informal, this word is less aggressive than 'loser' but more insulting than 'silly person'.
02a loser or failure
n. a person who is not successful or who is considered unimportant and weak.
n. a derogatory term for an incompetent person or someone viewed as a failure in a specific social context.
“Don't be a chump; stand up for yourself and ask for a raise.”
“In the competitive world of high finance, he was dismissed as a chump who lacked the killer instinct required to survive.”
Informal · Slang
Teaching tip
Often used in the phrase 'from champ to chump' to describe a sudden fall from grace.
03to trick someone
v. to treat someone like they are stupid or to cheat them.
v. to defraud, swindle, or treat a person as if they are gullible and unworthy of respect.
“He tried to chump me out of my share of the prize money.”
“The veteran players tried to chump the rookie into carrying all their gear, but he saw through their scheme immediately.”
Slang
Usage
Often used with 'out of' when referring to money or possessions.
Teaching tip
The verb form is significantly less common than the noun and is restricted to very informal or street slang.
Etymology
Origin uncertain; probably a blend of chunk and lump or stump, or perhaps a nasalised variant of chub (“someone chubby, something thick”). Compare Icelandic kubbur (“block of wood, chip (computing)”), Old Norse kumbr for kubbr (“block of wood”), English chop.
Variant of chomp, itself a variant of champ (“to bite”). More at champ.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Idioms
chump change — An amount of remuneration, reward, or other monetary recompense considered to be insultingly small.