Meaning

4 senses

  1. Lacking purpose.

    nichtsnutzig, nutzlos, ziellos

    бесце́льныйbescélʹnyj, напра́сныйnaprásnyj

  2. Without skill, ineffective, incompetent.

    unfähig, untauglich, wirkungslos

    бесполе́зныйbespoléznyj, вя́лыйvjályj

    generally incompetent and ineffectual

  3. Lacking the courage to act in any meaningful way.

    schwach, mutlos, schlaff

    беспо́мощныйbespómoščnyj

  4. (UK, archaic)Lacking vitality.

    kraftlos, schlapp, lahmarschig

    вя́лыйvjályj, сла́быйslábyj

Examples

4 sentences

  1. She discombobulated me with her feckless laughter.

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  2. Our feckless opposition party didn't do enough to stop him.

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  3. The feckless liberals did nothing to stop fascism from taking over.

    CC0 · Tatoeba · shekitten · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  4. The Democratic Party appears both feckless and sclerotic.

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Translations

3 languages
Русский
By meaning 4
lacking purpose:
without skill, ineffective:
lacking the courage to act in any meaningful way:
lacking vitality:
Deutsch
By meaning 4
lacking purpose:
without skill, ineffective:
lacking the courage to act in any meaningful way:
lacking vitality:

Origin

From Scots feckless, variant of Scots fectless (“ineffectual”) (an aphetic variant of effe

From Scots feckless, variant of Scots fectless (“ineffectual”) (an aphetic variant of effectless), equivalent to effect + -less.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

more feckless, most feckless
Comparativemore feckless Lesson
Superlativemost feckless Lesson

regular

Synonyms

14 synonyms
ineffective:hopelessB1ineffectiveB2meaninglessC1uselessB1futileineffectualfeeble
worthless, irresponsible:worthlessB2aimlessC1carelessB1irresponsibleB2unpurposedreckless
Close in meaning
  • generally incompetent and ineffectual:inept

Antonyms

7 antonyms
weak, ineffective:effectiveB1efficientB1meaningfulB1usefulA2
worthless, irresponsible:purposefulB2carefulA1responsibleB1

Word family

2 related words
Relatedfecklesslyfecklessness

Lessons for this word

2 lessons

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
featureA2fecalfecesfederalB2federation
feckless — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto