| a pathetically inept person, esp. a soldier, who continually blunders in spite of good intentions. |
| sad sack n. Informal An extremely inept or clumsy person. [After a cartoon character created in 1942 by George Baker (1915-1975).] |
sad sack
A singularly inept person, as in Poor George is a hopeless sad sack. This term alludes to a cartoon character, Sad Sack, invented by George Baker in 1942 and representing a soldier in ill-fitting uniform who failed at whatever he tried to do. It was soon transferred to clumsily inept civilians.