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Glite Dictionary
no-account friend

no-account friend

8.3
A friend who cannot be trusted to help you
  • noun
  • Offensive
translation icon : amigo bueno para nada
  • Even though he promised to help me move, he turned out to be just another no-account friend.

Examples

  • You can't trust a no-account friend when you really need help.

  • She always ends up forgiving her no-account friend despite repeated disappointments.

  • After what he did, I realized he was just a no-account friend.

  • He's a no-account friend.

  • Don't trust a no-account friend!

  • After what he did, I realized he was just a no-account friend who never comes through.

  • It's frustrating to have a no-account friend who only shows up when things go well.

Antonyms

loyal friend
10 1.0

A person who always supports you and can be trusted

How Reliable

loyal friend
10 1.0
supportive
348 2.8
no-account friend
  • Offensive
8.3
fair-weather friend
  • Informal
2 5.6

Surface Forms

no-account friend singular
no-account friends plural

Morphology

no-account + friend

The hyphenated adjective 'no-account' carries an idiomatic sense of 'worthless' that is not a straightforward composition of the literal words 'no' + 'account'; common senses of 'account' (story, bank account, report) do not transparently yield 'worthless'. A B1 learner who knows the constituent words would therefore be unlikely to derive the intended meaning of 'no-account friend' without prior exposure.

Etymology

The phrase no-account friend comes from no + account, where account means value or a place in a record, so someone with 'no account' is not counted or has little value. That's why a no-account friend means a friend who is 'worthless' or 'unreliable'.