lame
adjective
physically disabled, especially in the foot or leg so as to limp or walk with difficulty.
lame
1 American
[leym]
/ 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
[leym, la m]
/ leɪm, lam /
noun
Armor.
-
lames
plural
lamé
3
American
[lah-mey, la-, la -mey]
/ 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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Ghost Boys
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Least Presidential Vocabulary Used by Presidential Candidates during the GOP Debate (Sept. 16, 2015)
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
What should have been a unique way for “Supergirl” to remark on the infantilization projected onto so many women superheroes is cast away as a joke so lame it doesn’t even deserve to be finished.
From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2026
Even Queen itself was deemed lame until “Wayne’s World” resurrected “Bohemian Rhapsody” as headbanging slapstick.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026
So there may not be any significant surprises from the Fed on Wednesday, especially now that Powell is essentially a lame duck.
From Barron's ● Apr. 28, 2026
I suppose you could keep the plate umpires around for aesthetics, let them keep the mask and call foul tips and hit batters, but that’s lame.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 26, 2026
“Cinders has come up lame and I need to stay with her. But maybe in a few days, when she’s better, if Osh will go with us.”
From "Beyond the Bright Sea" by Lauren Wolk
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
Hockney wore a gold lamé jacket at the ceremony, under the traditional academic gown.
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026
He stood just over 5 feet but commanded theaters filled with thousands of people, standing onstage in shimmering sapphire or gold lamé suits, while four generations of fans screamed his name.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2025
Long finally settled on a longer gold lamé dress by Norma Kamali, and a great time was had.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 28, 2023
Then the unbelievable bright loveliness of the English Channel, a shimmering infinite lamé cloth of silver and blue.
From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein
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
Later he became a lobbyist for Bishop lames Pike in California, charged, among other tasks, with persuading the state's legislators to vote for liberalized abortion laws.
From Time Magazine Archive
Dramatically grave-robbed from Beckett, this is a good isometric exercise for the neck, but lames the brain.
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
Alas, my summers were a lot lamer than yours.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2020
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
He apologised for a follow-up track he released promising to "humble" Kendrick, saying it was the "lamest, goofiest" thing he'd recorded and was a "mis-step".
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2024
And she just showed us why in the lamest way possible, drawing a rare bit of bipartisan scorn.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 28, 2023
He calls Grodin “the lamest host we’ve ever had,” then storms out.
From Washington Post ● May 19, 2021
All these wannabes killing themselves, running around hanging the lamest posters and FB-ing everybody with Like me requests, and Castro wins without even being on the ballot, as a write-in.
From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin
Then Marco the Magnificent appears, and the gal he forever two-times; then Paul, the lamed, embittered puppeteer, and the pal he forever snaps at.
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
If these were valid, even in part, "the realities of the industrial world" meant that many businesses would be lamed, some crippled.
From Time Magazine Archive
Scott was lamed by a child hood attack of polio and was ill for much of his life; Dumas was in overpowering good health and spirits all his days.
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
Of all the difficult hurdles a new French Premier must leap without laming himself, the first and foremost is Algeria.
From Time Magazine Archive
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
So rough did the game become that James I. forbade the heir apparent to play it, and describes the exercise in his Basilikon Doron as “meeter for laming than making able the users thereof.”
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 5 "Fleury, Claude" to "Foraker" by Various
Now, though the athlete, to use our old figure, cannot, by much lifting, lift up his own body, he may shift it out of a laming posture, and get to stand in a free one.
From A Century of English Essays An Anthology Ranging from Caxton to R. L. Stevenson & the Writers of Our Own Time by Ernest Rhys
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.
