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ne'er-do-well

ne'er-do-well
N n

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [nair doo wel]
    • /nɛər du wɛl/
    • /neər duː wel/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [nair doo wel]
    • /nɛər du wɛl/

Definitions of ne'er-do-well word

  • noun ne'er-do-well an idle, worthless person; a person who is ineffectual, unsuccessful, or completely lacking in merit; good-for-nothing. 1
  • adjective ne'er-do-well worthless; ineffectual; good-for-nothing. 1
  • noun ne'er-do-well an improvident, irresponsible, or lazy person 0
  • adjective ne'er-do-well useless; worthless 0
  • noun ne'er-do-well a person who never does anything worthwhile; one who cannot make a living, get things done, etc. 0
  • adjective ne'er-do-well lazy, inadequate, etc. 0

Information block about the term

Origin of ne'er-do-well

First appearance:

before 1730
One of the 48% newest English words
First recorded in 1730-40

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Ne'er-do-well

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation

ne'er-do-well popularity

This term is known only to a narrow circle of people with rare knowledge. Only 3% of English native speakers know the meaning of this word.
According to our data most of word are more popular. This word is almost not used. It has a much more popular synonym.

Synonyms for ne'er-do-well

noun ne'er-do-well

  • loafer — a person who loafs; lazy person; idler.
  • incompetent — not competent; lacking qualification or ability; incapable: an incompetent candidate.
  • idler — the state or quality of being idle.
  • loser — a person, team, nation, etc., that loses: The visiting team was the loser in the series.
  • wastrel — a wasteful person; spendthrift.

See also

Matching words

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