beaten

beaten — adjective

1. having lost a game, race, election, or other contest

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

having lost a game, race, election, or other contest

Example

After the final whistle, the beaten players sat quietly by the bus.

before noun: beaten players

Riverdale looked beaten once East High scored a third goal.

linking verb: looked beaten

Common collocations
  • beaten team
  • beaten side
  • beaten boxer
  • beaten candidate
  • look beaten
Synonyms
  • defeated

    is the closest general synonym and sounds slightly more formal

  • losing

    can describe a side during the contest, before the result is final

  • outplayed

    suggests the other side performed better, especially in sport

Antonyms
  • victorious

    is a formal word for having won

  • winning

    can describe the side that is ahead or has won

  • unbeaten

    means not defeated in any game or match yet

Grammar Patterns

a beaten team

a beaten candidate

look beaten

finish beaten

Usage Note

Common for people, teams, or sides after a clear result in sport, elections, or other contests. Distinguish from the passive verb in sentences like 'They were beaten by Spain', where the focus is the action rather than this describing adjective.

Common Mistakes

Our team was beaten the match.
Our team was beaten in the match.' / 'Our team was beaten.
as an adjective, beaten does not take the game directly as an object.
I felt beaten after carrying the sofa upstairs.
I felt exhausted after carrying the sofa upstairs.
this sense is about losing a contest, not simply being tired.

2. hammered until it spreads into a thinner, flatter shape, especially of metal

2.adjectiveC1
Definition

hammered until it spreads into a thinner, flatter shape, especially of metal

Example

The museum showed beaten gold from a king's mask.

collocation: beaten gold

A beaten copper bowl hung above Rosa's kitchen table.

before noun with metal nouns

Common collocations
  • beaten gold
  • beaten silver
  • beaten copper
  • beaten brass
  • beaten metal
Synonyms
  • hammered

    is the nearest everyday word and stresses the hitting process

  • flattened

    focuses on the resulting shape more than the method

  • worked

    is broader and often used in art or metalcraft contexts

Grammar Patterns

beaten gold

beaten silver

beaten brass

beaten metal

Usage Note

Usually comes before nouns for metals such as gold, silver, copper, or brass. Distinguish from adjective/3, where repeated walking makes a path clear, not hammering.

Common Mistakes

The carpenter used beaten wood for the frame.
The goldsmith used beaten gold for the necklace.
this sense is mainly used for metal shaped by hammering.
Tourists followed the beaten gold into the forest.
Tourists followed the beaten path into the forest.
beaten gold is metal; a route worn by feet is adjective/3.

3. worn clear by many feet passing the same way again and again

3.adjectiveC1
Definition

worn clear by many feet passing the same way again and again

Example

A beaten path led from the farm gate to the river.

collocation: beaten path

Tourists left the beaten track and climbed toward the quiet lake.

phrase: leave the beaten track

Common collocations
  • beaten path
  • beaten track
  • leave the beaten track
  • off the beaten track
Synonyms
  • worn

    is a broad word for a surface changed by long use

  • trodden

    is more literary and also stresses repeated walking

  • well-used

    is less fixed and can describe paths or tracks in everyday English

Antonyms
  • overgrown

    suggests plants now cover the route

  • untrodden

    is literary and means not walked on

  • rough

    suggests the route is still uneven or unclear

Grammar Patterns

beaten path

beaten track

leave the beaten track

off the beaten track

Usage Note

Most often used with path and track, especially in the phrase off the beaten track. Distinguish from adjective/2, which describes metal made flat by hammering.

Common Mistakes

We followed a beaten metal through the forest.
We followed a beaten path through the forest.
this sense describes a route worn by many feet.
The artist bought a beaten track for the statue.
The artist bought beaten copper for the statue.
for hammered metal, use adjective/2 instead.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Beaten and defeated both describe someone or something that has lost, but beaten is often more vivid and is especially common in sport or elections: a beaten boxer, a beaten candidate. Defeated is broader and slightly more formal; it also works for hopes, armies, or disease after a struggle. Losing is weaker and often describes the situation before the result is final, as in a losing side at half-time. Outplayed is narrower: it means the other side performed better during the game, not just that the result was a loss. Unsuccessful is the most general and least emotional, and it is often used for plans, attempts, or applications. Say The beaten team waited by the bus, but Their visa application was unsuccessful.

defeatedlosingoutplayedunsuccessful ↗

Etymology

Proto-GermanicOld EnglishEnglish

Beaten is the adjective form of the past participle of beat. Beat comes from Old English beatan, from an older Germanic verb meaning to strike again and again. From that physical idea of repeated blows came both the metal sense, where something is hammered flat, and the path sense, where many feet wear a route clear.