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bum

[buhm] / bʌm /




VERB
to borrow, mooch
Synonyms


ADJECTIVE
fake, misleading, disappointing
Synonyms


ADJECTIVE
injured, impaired
Synonyms


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

“My two-engine plane was out at Burbank, waiting, so that if I got a bum rap, I’d get out there, hop in, and leave America and my screen career forever.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

When he substitutes a pitcher or a hitter and it works out, Dave is a hero, and when it doesn’t work out, Dave is a bum.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026

Adrian thinks maybe she’s half a bum too.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026

While not a medical diagnosis, some users complain of how their body shape changes, including a deflated or saggy bum, dubbed Ozempic butt.

From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026

“So you know it’s going to bum when I comb it in—it bums bad. But the longer you can stand it, the straighter the hair.”

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey

Pondering the potential heat death of humanity is a bummer of a way to start the week, I know.

From Slate ● Sep. 14, 2026

That’s a bummer for the engineers developing humanoids with miraculous applications, like autonomous disaster-response bots.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026

“It’s a bummer because he has made a lot of strides,” Roberts said before the Dodgers’ 7-6 loss to the Cubs on Wednesday, which extended the Dodgers’ season-high losing streak to six games.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

In those years, all the cool surf brands made cute surf clothing, but the emphasis was decidedly more on the aesthetic than the function, which was a bummer when it came to, you know, surfing.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2026

“Um, just because...it was sort of a bummer growing up an only child,” Grace said, covering.

From "Far from the Tree" by Robin Benway

Say," he cried, "Snake's Fall is just the bummest location this side of the Sahara on a Sunday.

From The Son of his Father by Ridgwell Cullum

Aspen has been soul-searching for half a century, since hippie ski bums began ceding ground to luxury real-estate developers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

Back then, Folger says, the rural western outpost was filled with "back-to-the-land hippies, college students, cowboys and ski bums".

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

A poodle, coiffed to make pompoms of its torso and tail, stands on its hind legs: puffed, ruffed and bum-padded, just like the ladies being fitted for bums.

From Slate ● Jul. 21, 2025

The Pad was lambasted in the print-shop windows where caricaturists laid into all the ludicrous fashions: bums, breasts, bellies, skirts, hats, and hair.

From Slate ● Jul. 21, 2025

She is walking down Fulton Street in her mauve velour jogging suit, past the shabby May’s department store with mannequins from another era, past shuttered shops and bus-stop benches draped with sleeping bums.

From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García

“I’m both envious,” she said, “and a bit bummed out.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

“In the office, we actually get really bummed when we realize we’re having a conversation and we forgot to turn on Granola,” she says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

"The level is crazy. I had to put a lot down to get here, but I am definitely bummed how we couldn't fully do a final," Brown told World Skate.

From BBC ● Mar. 9, 2026

Bowen Yang is in a huge number of commercials these days, and every time I see him, I get a little more bummed out.

From Slate ● Feb. 8, 2026

There I was, bummed out and a little scared, wondering who I really was, when Buster gave me that Mountain Dew and, whoa, suddenly I realized, it doesn’t matter; we’re all brothers under the skin.

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

We had this life that was mainly just bumming around on your bike and drinking coffee.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2023

Summing up his life in the mid-1980s, he wrote, “I was still bumming a ride on my Academy nomination.”

From New York Times ● Jul. 27, 2023

Green and Boaz aren’t the only ones bumming at Nike’s departure.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 20, 2023

The NFL has squeezed its overtime period from 15 minutes to 10, bumming out some.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 28, 2021

"He was probably bumming his way home. He told me he was president of your class at Yale."

From " The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald


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