suck a lemon

verb

To be in a sour or negative mood.

“I knew he must've woke up sucking a lemon when he didn't even say hello.”

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Meanings

verbsuck a lemon (third-person singular simple present sucks a lemon, present participle sucking a lemon, simple past and past participle sucked a lemon)

present singular third person sucks a lemon · participle present sucking a lemon · participle past sucked a lemon · past sucked a lemon · alternative suck lemons

  1. UKidiomaticTo be in a sour or negative mood.

    I knew he must've woke up sucking a lemon when he didn't even say hello.

    1 more example

    Yesterday I woke up sucking a lemon / Everything, Everything, Everything / In its right place

    2000, “Everything in Its Right Place”, in Kid A, performed by Radiohead

Origin

From the grimace one sometimes gets from tasting the tartness of a lemon's citric acid.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

suck a lemon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/suck%20a%20lemon

MLA

“suck a lemon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/suck%20a%20lemon. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “suck a lemon,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/suck%20a%20lemon.

Source: suck a lemon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.