bottom feeder

• bottom-feeder, bottomfeeder

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bottom feeder (plural bottom feeders)

1. A fish or other aquatic creature that feeds off the bottom of its habitat; a flatfish.

   Synonyms: bottom dweller, bottom liver

   • 2023 May 12, Lauren McCarthy, “‘A Bit Spooky’: The New Shark Species With Bright, White Eyes”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     The Apristurus genus, the second-most diverse group of sharks that counts about 40 species, is commonly known as the ghost or demon catshark. […] The sharks are bottom feeders and have elongated catlike eyes.

2. (figuratively, by extension, informal, derogatory, originally US) A person who operates amidst or thrives on the unwholesome things in a society; one who takes advantage of the misfortune of others.
   • 2013 November 16, Christian Dem, “Bottom-feeders using social media to intimidate witnesses”, in The Daily Kos‎^[2], NC, archived from the original on 14 December 2013:

     “[T]he rise of Facebook, Twitter and other social media has made it harder to control the flow of information, thus making it easier for bottom-feeders to bully witnesses.” […] Officials are still trying to identify the bottom-feeder behind that account.

   • 2022 February 2, Elisabeth Vincentelli, “‘Pam & Tommy’: A Story of Sex, Crimes and Videotape”, in The New York Times‎^[3], →ISSN, archived from the original on 19 February 2022:

     The real-life cast of characters grew to include bikers, gamblers, a brutal money lender named Butchie (Andrew Dice Clay) and assorted bottom feeders like Gauthier’s accomplice Milton Ingley (Nick Offerman), a pornographer in the San Fernando Valley.

   • 2026 February 7, Richard Luscombe, Shrai Popat, Robert Mackey, quoting Hakeem Jeffries, “Trump refuses to apologize for video with racist imagery of Obamas posted on his social media”, in The Guardian‎^[4], →ISSN, archived from the original on 7 February 2026:

     [Hakeem] Jeffries hailed the Obamas as “brilliant, compassionate and patriotic Americans” and denounced Trump as “a vile, unhinged and malignant bottom feeder”.

• “bottom feeder n.” under “bottom adj.³”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present