sacked

¹ American  

[sakt] / sækt /

adjective

1. Informal. dismissed or discharged from a job.

   The company was forced to recognize union rights and reinstate the sacked workers.

2. Football. (of the quarterback) tackled behind the line of scrimmage before being able to throw a pass.

   We've all seen it and winced—the sacked quarterback who can't get up.

3. put into a sack or sacks.

   The creek channel is constrained by the sacked concrete used to reinforce both of its banks in the 1950s.

   I let him push the cart with my sacked groceries out to my parked car.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of sack.

sacked ² American  

[sakt] / sækt /

adjective

1. destroyed or pillaged, as after capture.

   In the 13th century, Nicaea was a haven for refugees from the sacked city of Constantinople.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of sack.

Etymology

Origin of sacked¹

First recorded in 1880–85; 1930–35 sacked ¹ for def. 1; sack ¹ ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses; sack ¹ ( def. ) + -ed ¹ ( def. ) for the verb sense

Origin of sacked²

First recorded in 1590–1600; sack ² ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. ) for the adjective; sack ² ( def. ) + -ed ¹ ( def. ) for the verb

Example Sentences

He suggested that this was a key point of difference between him and Sir Olly Robbins, the former top civil servant at the Foreign Office at the time, who was effectively sacked last week.

From BBC • Apr. 20, 2026

Rose, 49, has been without a club since he was sacked by RB Leipzig in March 2025 and has never previously managed in England.

From BBC • Apr. 17, 2026

In AD 452, when Attila the Hun sacked city after city in his conquest of the known world, it was the Catholic Church, not the Roman military, that met him in a show of diplomacy.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026

The day after she was sacked, her official portrait was thrown in the trash at the very building that had been her domain.

From Salon • Apr. 9, 2026

The place was, we swiftly perceived, a plantation recently sacked and brought low.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

Related Words

• broken
• demolished
• devastated
• lost
• ravaged
• ruined
• shattered
• smashed
• wrecked