lame
adjective
physically disabled, especially in the foot or leg so as to limp or walk with difficulty.
lame
1 American
[laym]
/ leɪm /
adjective
-
lamer,
comparative
-
lamest
superlative
-
physically disabled, especially in the foot or leg so as to limp or walk with difficulty.
a lame racehorse.
-
impaired or disabled through defect or injury.
a lame arm.
-
weak; inadequate; unsatisfactory; clumsy.
a lame excuse.
-
Slang: Sometimes Disparaging and Offensive. awkward, dull, stupid, or uninteresting.
-
Slang: Sometimes Disparaging and Offensive. out of touch with modern fads or trends; unsophisticated.
verb (used with object)
-
lames,
present (3rd person singular)
-
lamed,
past participle, past
-
laming
present participle
noun
lame
2
American
[laym, la m]
/ leɪm, lam /
noun
Armor.
-
lames
plural
lamé
3
American
[lah-may, la-, la -may]
/ lɑˈmeɪ, læ-, laˈmeɪ /
noun
-
lamés
plural
lame
1
British
/ leɪm /
adjective
-
disabled or crippled in the legs or feet
-
painful or weak
a lame back
-
weak; unconvincing
a lame excuse
-
not effective or enthusiastic
a lame try
-
slang conventional or uninspiring
verb
lamé
2
British
/ ˈlɑːmeɪ /
noun
lame
3
British
/ leɪm /
noun
Sensitive Note
Many speakers do not recognize or consider the connection between the medical and slang senses of lame . Nevertheless, using a term associated with injury or disability as a general insult is sometimes perceived as insensitive to or by people with disabilities.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
lamesimple
-
lamessimple
-
have lamedperfect
-
has lamedperfect
-
am lamingprogressive
-
are lamingprogressive
-
is lamingprogressive
-
have been lamingperfect progressive
-
has been lamingperfect progressive
Past
-
lamedsimple
-
had lamedperfect
-
was lamingprogressive
-
were lamingprogressive
-
had been lamingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of lame1
First recorded before 900; Middle English (adjective and verb); Old English lama (adjective); cognate with Dutch lam, German lahm, Old Norse lami; akin to Lithuanian lúomas
Origin of lame2
1580–90; < Middle French < Latin lāmina a thin piece or plate
Origin of lamé3
1920–25; < French, equivalent to lame lame 2 + -é < Latin -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
You might describe a limping dog that's lost the use of one of its legs as lame, which means "disabled in a leg or foot." It's less common than describing injured animals as lame, but sometimes you'll hear the word lame used to describe a limping person too. This usage is generally considered to be outdated or inappropriate. Lame is probably most often used to mean generally weak or pathetic — but many people consider this usage to be offensive as well.
Vocabulary lists containing lame
The One and Only Ivan
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Ghost Boys
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Least Presidential Vocabulary Used by Presidential Candidates during the GOP Debate (Sept. 16, 2015)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It was an already-poorly lamb, which Fiona said had not shown typical symptoms - it had been drooling, dropping food from its mouth and its legs were stiff, but not lame.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
Letterboxd Journal would be replaced by the advertorial “journalism” of Netflix Tudum, or lame writing about the library of films currently available on whichever streamer or studio makes the shiniest offer.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026
How could the clueless become clued if their peers weren’t picking on their every lame move?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
Even Queen itself was deemed lame until “Wayne’s World” resurrected “Bohemian Rhapsody” as headbanging slapstick.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026
When she went lame and lagged behind the other elephants, the circus sold her to Mack.
From "The One and Only Ivan" by Katherine Applegate
The crystals and lamé of their outfits played with the light from the disco ball hanging from the ceiling.
From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026
When the college awarded him its gold medal, Hockney accepted the honor wearing a gold lamé jacket.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
Onstage, Rodriguez, hosted in his own signature style — no gold lamé, but a fedora, black sunglasses and a white guayabera shirt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2025
He stayed in the same gold lamé suit all evening, giving off the air of a man who's at his happiest when he's sitting behind a piano, letting rip.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2023
With one gold lamé sandal on my left foot and one gold lamé sandal on Mami’s right foot, we’re a complete person.
From "Lucky Broken Girl" by Ruth Behar
As for his newly created clothes, there was an “homage to the lodge” in plaid lames and cashmeres, melting into sunset-drenched oranges and pinks inspired by his Colorado vacation.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 25, 2021
But then Blane lames out on taking her, and this is where Andie really comes into her own.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 21, 2014
On paper, the offering had the potential of becoming the richest real estate deal since Railroad President lames Gadsden bought part of Arizona and New Mexico from Mexico's President Santa Anna.
From Time Magazine Archive
Teahupoo makes and breaks, or shames and sometimes even lames.
From Time Magazine Archive
To help alleviate the costs for beginners or for kids whose parents weren’t willing or able to purchase fencing equipment, our high school had equipment for rent, like jackets, knickers, and lames.
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
A warning: an expensive sporting event is usually a lamer one.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026
The sharing of AI-generated images online, for one thing, has gone from seeming cool and even a little spooky to lamer than an account with a blue check mark.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 2023
It was such a snooze, he almost forgot to celebrate after holing his final putt and gave a lamer fist pump than Lucas Glover at the 2009 U.S.
From Golf Digest ● Feb. 26, 2019
Many spots played it safe, with wan jokes that felt even lamer than usual.
From Slate ● Feb. 6, 2017
“You had to? That’s even lamer than denying it.”
From "Ask the Passengers" by A.S. King
The family’s insecurity over this surged into view last week, when the alleged “ladies man” was photographed doing the lamest possible thing on New Year’s Eve: hanging out with his parents at Mar-a-Lago.
From Salon ● Jan. 12, 2026
Mr Loach had told the PA news agency that keeping Mr Driscoll off the longlist published on Friday because they shared a platform was the "lamest excuse I've ever heard".
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2023
My Gucci-wearing pals will stage the world’s lamest riot.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 2, 2020
A friend told Cannone that the phrase sounded like “the lamest jazz album ever.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2019
And worst of all, Cara thought, “I would know that I am the biggest, fattest, weakest, lamest, chickenest coward who ever lived.”
From "The Landry News" by Andrew Clements
An orphan lamed by tuberculosis, he was a veteran in social work and child-welfare reform when he took over the Scouts.
From Time Magazine Archive
To small Drew University of Madison, N. J. fell the lamed Wendel mansion on 39th Street and Fifth Avenue, with a high-fenced side yard which was maintained exclusively for Spinster Wendel's toothless, asthmatic poodle Tobey.
From Time Magazine Archive
In South Bend, Ind. Footballer William Shakespeare, who played three years in Notre Dame's backfield without injury, went picnicking, stepped in a woodchuck hole, lamed himself so thoroughly he had to take to crutches.
From Time Magazine Archive
He opened the throttle; the plane caromed faster, tilting awkwardly up and down as if it were lamed.
From Time Magazine Archive
Now, lamed by pain, he went hesitantly, and did not raise his face, the left side of which was white with scars.
From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin
My wife suffered from laming traumatic dislocation for eight years.
From Time Magazine Archive
Since last spring the world's biggest public school system, New York City's, has wallowed along like a superliner with a laming leak.
From Time Magazine Archive
Of all the difficult hurdles a new French Premier must leap without laming himself, the first and foremost is Algeria.
From Time Magazine Archive
The temporary laming of the animals prevented them from traveling as far or as fast as they normally would have; consequently they probably obtained correspondingly less food.
From Ecology of the Opossum on a Natural Area in Northeastern Kansas by Henry S. Fitch
The difficulty in Mexico to-day, as also in Venezuela and in Colombia, is the laming of industry by frequent revolutions.
From American World Policies by Walter E. Weyl
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
