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
Sensitivity
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
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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:
He technically isn’t a lame duck, but he’ll quack like one even if Republicans don’t do as badly as expected.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026
Donald Trump could become a lame duck president after US midterm elections but prospects at the ballot box are looking brighter for ducks of the feathered variety.
From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026
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
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
He was sixty-eight years old and partly lame from a decades-old carriage accident that had left one leg an inch shorter than the other.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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
Four women in gold lamé jumpsuits with painted faces and floral headbands leaped in tandem, their shins bedecked with silver bells.
From New York Times ● Aug. 15, 2023
Katy Perry appeared in a gold lamé Vivienne Westwood ballgown, a cross between Vivienne Leigh in Gone with the Wind and that foil that you're given to wrap around you if you've run a marathon.
From BBC ● May 8, 2023
Mami is wearing her gold lamé sandals for New Year’s and she goes rushing to the kitchen, returning with the flan, which has turned as bright and golden as her pretty sandals.
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
At the advice of lames Martin, who quit his job as a Dallas motel manager to become her business agent, Marina has set up a $25,000 trust fund for the children.
From Time Magazine Archive
"A President," says Political Scientist lames MacGregor Burns, "must be both preacher and politician."
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
He’s lame as hell, he’s lamer than George Lopez in my book.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 22, 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
And this season’s stunt is even lamer because it was so clearly a sham, as Kaitlyn was always going to win.
From Slate ● May 29, 2015
Don’t know why I thought it was going to be something lamer, like jumping from rock to rock on even ground.
From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera
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
He calls Grodin “the lamest host we’ve ever had,” then storms out.
From Washington Post ● May 19, 2021
“He was like, ‘Let’s meet up, I can help you with your blog,’ and I was like, ‘OK, that’s like the lamest excuse.’
From New York Times ● Jan. 5, 2021
“In my game, Mythomagic. And a holofoil card, too! And even though you’ve only got like five hundred attack points and everybody thinks you’re the lamest god card, I totally think your powers are sweet!”
From "The Titan's Curse" by Rick Riordan
But this year, he cannot play, must be content to watch from the sidelines, lamenting the hunting accident which lamed him last spring.
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
Jim, the elder son, lamed by a riding accident, stayed home; but Ned went, was captured, finally released from a Yankee prison a broken man.
From Time Magazine Archive
The author invents an alter ego , character who prods the legally lamed Ian Hamilton to get on with his project despite the court's restrictions on paraphrasing.
From Time Magazine Archive
Some of them were small and troublesome, creatures who lamed horses and spoiled milk.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
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
My wife suffered from laming traumatic dislocation for eight years.
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
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
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