bottom-feeder
noun
bot·tom-feed·er
ˈbä-təm-ˌfē-dər 
1
: a fish that feeds at the bottom
2
: one that is of the lowest status or rank
3
: an opportunist who seeks quick profit usually at the expense of others or from their misfortune
Examples of bottom-feeder in a Sentence
that bottom-feeder would run over his own mother if it would help him get ahead in his career
Recent Examples on the Web
Here’s one out-of-the-box name who fits the high-motor description: Tony Vitello, who transformed the University of Tennessee from a bottom-feeder in the Southeastern Conference into perhaps the brashest and most talented program in the country.
—
Andrew Baggarly, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025
Here are some methods for scraping good music from the data wasteland, organized in a hierarchy from bottom-feeder basics to more sophisticated and ultimately, uhh, harebrained strategies.
—Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 31 July 2025
With the July 31 trade deadline only two weeks beyond the Atlanta All-Star Game, contenders and would-be contenders are eying the rosters of bottom-feeders to fill the few holes on their rosters.
—Dan Schlossberg, Forbes.com, 7 July 2025
And a lot of them are like the rig shark — smaller bottom-feeders, eaten by larger sharks and humans alike.
—Julie Depenbrock, NPR, 3 Apr. 2025
And with New York dropping the first two games of what was supposed to be a gimme stretch against bottom-feeders, the Knicks’ margin for error is all but gone.
—Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 22 Mar. 2025
The Dawgs have lost seven of nine, and their only two wins in that span are at home against the two SEC bottom-feeders, South Carolina and LSU.
—Jim Root, The Athletic, 13 Feb. 2025
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Andrew Baggarly, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025
Here are some methods for scraping good music from the data wasteland, organized in a hierarchy from bottom-feeder basics to more sophisticated and ultimately, uhh, harebrained strategies.
—Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 31 July 2025
With the July 31 trade deadline only two weeks beyond the Atlanta All-Star Game, contenders and would-be contenders are eying the rosters of bottom-feeders to fill the few holes on their rosters.
—Dan Schlossberg, Forbes.com, 7 July 2025
And a lot of them are like the rig shark — smaller bottom-feeders, eaten by larger sharks and humans alike.
—Julie Depenbrock, NPR, 3 Apr. 2025
And with New York dropping the first two games of what was supposed to be a gimme stretch against bottom-feeders, the Knicks’ margin for error is all but gone.
—Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 22 Mar. 2025
The Dawgs have lost seven of nine, and their only two wins in that span are at home against the two SEC bottom-feeders, South Carolina and LSU.
—Jim Root, The Athletic, 13 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bottom-feeder.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bottom-feeder. Accessed 18 Oct. 2025.
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