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Glite Dictionary
😒 A useless person 🚫 Useless or worthless
good-for-nothing

good-for-nothing

16 7.1
A person who is lazy and does nothing useful
  • noun
  • /ˈɡʊd fɔr ˈnʌθɪŋ/
  • Offensive
translation icon : bueno para nada
  • My brother is such a good-for-nothing; he never helps with any chores.
  • a lazy good-for-nothing
  • good-for-nothing bastards
  • a good-for-nothing son

Examples

  • Everyone in the town knew him as a good-for-nothing who never held a job.

  • Not so long as there are lazy, good-for-nothing people and the power

    Blog text (21)

  • Just try your best and fight for the majority, not for a few good-for-nothings.

    Blog text (25)

  • Neither fit to be hunters, warriors, nor counselors, they were totally good for nothing.

    Academic text (2005)

  • You bunch of good-for-nothing loafers.

    Cimarron (1960)

  • I hope you're not going to hang around here all day, like those good-for-nothings.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • "Get up, you lazy good-for-nothing! Get up! You're sleeping on the job!"

    Fiction book (1996)

  • You're a lazy good-for-nothing, William Hare.

    Burke & Hare (2010)

  • The colonel's too indolent, and that good-for-nothing son of his is too selfish to give much thought to the family name.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • It's your former buddies, Republican corporate America, who think you and other teachers are lazy, good-for-nothing bums.

    Blog text (3)

Synonyms

bum
vsgood-for-nothing
  • Offensive
142 7.2

A lazy person who others dislike for not working

is a more general term for laziness or being considered without value
do-nothing
vsgood-for-nothing
  • Offensive
9 7.0

A person who avoids work and makes little effort

covers broader judgement of a person's worth and usefulness beyond effort
waster
vsgood-for-nothing
  • Offensive
6 7.2

A person who spends money or time carelessly on unimportant things

is about wasting resources rather than only avoiding work or being lazy
ne'er-do-well
vsgood-for-nothing
  • Offensive
5 9.9

A person who is lazy, irresponsible, and does not try to succeed

focuses more on current laziness or lack of worth than future failure
loafer
vsgood-for-nothing
  • Offensive
5 5.8

A person who avoids work and does very little

stresses both laziness and being seen as having little value or use
idler
vsgood-for-nothing
  • Offensive
2 7.0

A person who avoids work and does very little

adds judgment about a person's worth or usefulness beyond mere laziness
no-account
vsgood-for-nothing
  • Offensive
2 8.9

A person who does not keep a steady job

is equivalent in sense but differs only by its phrasing
goof-off
vsgood-for-nothing
  • Informal
2 8.6

A person who avoids work and wastes time

is a more general insult for laziness or lacking value, not only fooling
bludger
vsgood-for-nothing
  • Offensive
1 9.9

A person who avoids work and does very little

is the general insulting sense for laziness or lack of usefulness
lazybones
vsgood-for-nothing
  • Offensive
1 7.2

A person who avoids work and prefers to rest

puts more weight on being judged useless or valueless than mere idleness
goldbrick
vsgood-for-nothing
  • Offensive
1 9.6

A person who avoids work by pretending to be busy

refers to laziness or worthlessness without the pretending or disguise element
good-for-naught
vsgood-for-nothing
  • Offensive
9.9

A person who does little work and is not useful

is the same in meaning but uses a different written form
no-good slacker
vsgood-for-nothing
  • Offensive
8.4

A person who is very lazy and not responsible

is similar but can be a milder label for laziness or low value
oxygen waster
vsgood-for-nothing
  • Offensive
8.8

A person people see as useless and as wasting resources by just living

is a general insulting word for laziness or lack of usefulness without the metaphor
no-account loser
vsgood-for-nothing
  • Offensive
9.6

A person others think is useless and not successful

focuses more on personal failure and lack of success than mere laziness

How Useful

asset
770 3.5
worker
600 1.0
good-for-nothing
  • Offensive
16 7.1
loafer
  • Offensive
5 5.8
dead weight
  • Offensive
22 4.4

Surface Forms

good-for-nothing singular
good-for-nothings plural

Morphology

good-for-nothing = good + nothing (transparent) = for + good + nothing

The phrase literally means 'good for nothing' → 'useful for nothing', so the meaning 'worthless/useless' follows directly from the components. [Postprocessing: moved 'for' from base_words to prefix]

Etymology

Good-for-nothing comes from the simple phrase made of good and nothing, which means 'not good for anything'. So, calling a person a good-for-nothing is a way of saying they are lazy or have no use to others.