Phrase guide

loss leader

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈlɒs ˈliːdə(ɹ)/
  • General-American: /ˈlɔs ˈlidɚ/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -iːdə(ɹ)

1

noun

Meaning 1

An item that is sold at or below cost in an effort to stimulate other profitable sales.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: business, marketing

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a featured article of merchandise sold at a loss in order to draw customers

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: drawing card, leader

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: feature

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

19 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 損失領導物 /损失领导物 — item sold at or below cost to stimulate sales
  • Finnish: sisäänheittotuote — item sold at or below cost to stimulate sales
  • Finnish: tarjoustuote — item sold at or below cost to stimulate sales
  • French: produit d'appel — item sold at or below cost to stimulate sales
  • German: Lockvogelangebot — item sold at or below cost to stimulate sales
  • German: Lockartikel — item sold at or below cost to stimulate sales
  • German: Lockware — item sold at or below cost to stimulate sales
  • Hebrew: לוס לידר — item sold at or below cost to stimulate sales
  • Icelandic: aðdráttarvara — item sold at or below cost to stimulate sales
  • Italian: articolo civetta — item sold at or below cost to stimulate sales
  • Japanese: ロスリーダー (rosurīdā) — item sold at or below cost to stimulate sales
  • Korean: 로스리더 (roseurideo) — item sold at or below cost to stimulate sales
  • Latvian: prece par pazeminātu cenu — item sold at or below cost to stimulate sales
  • Portuguese: produto de engodo — item sold at or below cost to stimulate sales
  • Portuguese: chamariz — item sold at or below cost to stimulate sales
  • Portuguese: produto chamariz — item sold at or below cost to stimulate sales
  • Spanish: gancho comercial — item sold at or below cost to stimulate sales
  • Swedish: lockpris — item sold at or below cost to stimulate sales
  • Swedish: lockvara — item sold at or below cost to stimulate sales