Signs Of A Sore Loser

1. Blaming others

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The biggest sign of a sore loser is when they cannot just admit that they lost, they have to blame everybody else that they can to try and pretend that somebody else made them lose. This is because they can't face the loss like a good competitor who would accept that this time the better person won!

2. Refusing to shake hands

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Shaking hands after almost every competition is customary. It shows sportsmanship and good etiquette towards a fellow competitor who should be resected. But a sore loser will refuse because they can't bear to extend the politeness to the person who beat them!

3. Getting angry

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When you see somebody getting angry because they have lost or they are losing they are indeed a sore loser. Taking a loss is one of the most important lessons of competing in anything, whether it's a chess tournament or a swimming race. Getting angry shows someone cannot deal with losing!

4. Making excuses

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'This person distracted me and put me off, it wasn't my fault!', 'They only won because they had better equipment', or 'it wasn't fair'. Sore losers will be ready to tell you ALL of the excuses they can muster together about why they didn't win and how they should have, but there was a reason they didn't and couldn't have.

5. Refusing to accept the defeat

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'I did win, I should have won, I was better!' Not accepting defeat is a clear sign that someone is a sore loser. When someone can accept defeat they accept it gracefully and learn from it. Sore losers refuse to accept it and try and make the people around them feel the same so that nobody really thinks they lost.

6. Saying it was 'lucky'

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Another frustrating habit of a sore loser is that they call the win 'lucky'. They'll say 'they were lucky this time', rather than accepting that this person's skills on this occasion were better. Calling it luck makes sore losers feel better because it takes the responsibility off their own shoulders by blaming fate.

7. Quitting when they know they're going to lose

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If you are watching a competition and it's obvious that one person is going to lose, the best way to spot a sore loser is to look for the person who quits first. They will quit because they know they are going to lose and cannot face somebody else being declared the winner.

8. Sulking after a loss

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When someone loses and they sulk afterward, there's no doubt that they are a sore loser. Disappointment is natural and understandable. But sulking is something sore losers do because they cannot accept gracefully that somebody else won. They may sulk for hours or even days...

9. Mocking the winner

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One of the worst things a sore loser can do after they have been defeated is mock the inner. Not only is this not accepting defeat gracefully, but it's actively being hostile toward the winner. By mocking the winner this person is trying to undermine and put them down to make themselves feel better.

10. Making negative comments about the winner's skills

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'They weren't even good', 'did you see the way they passed the ball', 'they had a horrible technique'. Making negative comments about the winner's skills just raises a huge sign to say 'I'm a sore loser!' Good sportsmanship would encourage people to look for the skills of the winner, rather than the faults.

11. Becoming aggressive during the competition

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Some competitions require slightly more aggressive mindsets than others. But aggression when out of control is a terrible trait and one that raises its ugly head within sore losers. This is because they cannot bear to lose and they want to take it out on other people rather than themselves.

12. Not accepting that they made any mistakes

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Everybody makes mistakes, whether you win or lose. Nobody is perfect and rarely anybody has a perfect competition without any mistakes. It may be that the winner had fewer mistakes or more skill on that particular day. But a sore loser won't acknowledge that they made ANY mistakes at all.

13. Trying to cheat

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Cheating is a tactic used by sore losers. It's for people who cannot bear to lose and so they use immoral ways to try and win. This is when winning counts more than the actual sport/ craft/ skill itself. All that matters to a sore loser is the smug feeling they get when they win!

14. Jealousy toward the winner

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Having some jealousy towards the winner can be something that we can't help but feel. But it's how you deal with that, and whether this jealousy overtakes you. If you let the jealousy be apparent and make you act hostile towards the winner then it's obvious that this person is a sore loser.

15. Not congratulating them

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Congratulating the victor is a super important part of a competition. It's as much about the etiquette as it is about taking part. And so if somebody cannot congratulate the person who won, it shows that they cannot deal with losing. They cannot give praise to anybody who wins if it means that they have been defeated.

16. Complaining afterwards

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A sore loser will complain and complain afterward, over and over again. You'll be sick of hearing all of the things that went wrong in the competition and all of the complaints they had that meant that they lost and another person won. But, it's not a good trait to act like a sore loser.

17. Talking about it for days or weeks after

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This isn't necessarily a sign of a sore loser, it completely depends on how the person is regaling the events that happened days or weeks ago. If this person is talking about the great competition and what a learning curve it was, then this person is a great sport. If it's the exact opposite situation then this person's a clear sore loser.

18. Thinking they're entitled to win

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Some people just think that they're entitled to win. It's as though they should win no matter what, even if the other person is better, This entitlement means that they then feel it is just when they don't win. Rather than assessing the skill or accepting the score, they think they SHOULD have won.

19. Trash-talking

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Trash talking is when someone starts talking badly about someone behind their back, to many other people and it may even be lies that they are spreading. For example, a sore loser would do this when they lose - they would start talking badly about the victor to everyone else.

20. Planning revenge in future competitions

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There's a huge difference between a loss making someone want to work harder and becoming eager to get better for the next competition, and waiting for the next competition to seek revenge against the victor! The latter is the attitude of a very sore loser.

21. Undermining or downplaying the victory

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Instead of acknowledging what the other person did well, and accepting that the competition was good, a sore loser undermines the entire process to try and discount their win as though they weren't worthy or that the competition was simply terrible.

22. Having a bad attitude in the following practice

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It's then time to attend the practice, the first one AFTER the competition. Instead of getting on with what they are supposed to be practicing, they will have a terrible attitude. They aren't able to drop the victory from their mind and you will see that their attitude has shifted!

23. Taking it personally

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Winning and losing isn't personal. When you lose, you pick yourself back up again and focus on the next thing. You don't take it personally, because it's not. But some people aren't able to do this, They take losses VERY personally, as if it was an insult to them that they lost!

24. Refusing to take part in the celebrations afterward

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Often after a big win, there is some kind of celebration where everyone who took part can come together to celebrate the efforts of everybody. But when someone loses badly they will absolutely not participate in celebrating another person because they are much too envious.

25. Holding a grudge

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Grudges carry a lot of bitterness and resentment and when someone holds a grudge this does not go away for a very long time. Losing should be something we can all accept, as not only is it an inevitable part of life it's also an important learning curve!

26. Being super critical of referees or judges

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When you speak to someone who didn't win and they are criticizing the referee or judge and picking apart every decision they made, it's likely not because the judge was wrong at all. The more likely option is that you're speaking to a sore loser who cannot accept the loss!

27. Having a defeatist attitude

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Taking part in anything requires an amount of resilience so that when you lose or make a mistake you can get back up and carry on. The worst attitude in anything is a defeatist attitude! And a sore loser will have a defeatist attitude after they have faced a loss!

28. Arguing about the result

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Even if you really don't agree with the result, there's probably nothing you can do. Sometimes you have to accept that this time wasn't your time to win. Even if you don't like the decision, you can't argue about the result. It will only make you look like a sore loser!

29. Refusing to take part with that person again

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The right attitude is to respect your rivals, take note of their strengths, and how you could learn from them. So if they win, a good sportsman will be eager to compete against that person again in order to learn more. A bad loser will refuse to take part with them ever again.

30. Wallowing in self-pity

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Sometimes we all feel pity for ourselves. Yet just because someone's lost this time doesn't mean that they should wallow in self-pity. A good loser would bounce back stronger than ever, rather than dwell and feel super sorry for themselves about losing!