bummer

• IPA^(key): /ˈbʌ.mə(ɹ)/

• Audio (US)

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  Rhymes: -ʌmə(r)

From German Bummler (“a drifter, a stroller, a rambler, a loiterer, a laggard”), from bummeln (“loaf, loiter, stroll, ramble”).

bummer (plural bummers)

1. (obsolete, historical) A forager, especially in Sherman's March to the Sea of November to December 1864.
2. (US, slang, dated) An idle, worthless fellow, without any visible means of support; a dissipated sponger.
3. A lamb (typically the smallest of a multiple birth) which has been abandoned by its mother or orphaned, and as a consequence is raised in part or in whole by humans.

• (idle, worthless fellow): See also Thesaurus:scrounger

• bum (noun)

From bum + -er (“comparative forming”).

bummer

1. comparative form of bum: more bum

From bum + -er (“agency forming”).

bummer (plural bummers)

1. (chiefly slang) A disappointment, a pity, a shame.

   That's a total bummer.

• bum out

bummer

1. Exclamation of annoyance or frustration at a bummer (disappointment).

From bum (“buttocks”) + -er (“agency forming”).

bummer (plural bummers)

1. (Britain, slang, uncommon) homosexual male