ne'er-do-well
A person without a means of supportA person without a means of support; an idle, worthless person; a loafer; a person who is ineffectual, unsuccessful, or completely lacking in merit; a good-for-nothing.
Meaning
2 sensesA person without a means of support; an idle, worthless person; a loafer; a person who is ineffectual, unsuccessful, or completely lacking in merit; a good-for-nothing.
an idle worthless person
A person who is up to no good; a rogue.
Origin
From the phrase never do well.From the phrase never do well.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: ne'er-do-wells| Singular | ne'er-do-well |
|---|---|
| Plural | ne'er-do-wells |
regular
Synonyms
5 synonyms- an idle worthless person:goldbrickgoof-offgood-for-nothingno-accountgood-for-naught
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.