loosey-goosey
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of loosey-goosey
1965–70; rhyming compound (with -y 1 ) based on the idiom loose as a goose
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.
In Mazzulla’s more recent answer, I don’t think he’s rejecting the idea of having fun—I just think he rejects the loosey-goosey, every-player-for-himself version.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025
“It is not random, it is not loosey-goosey, it is not something capricious,” she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2025
The code of conduct looks as fake and loosey-goosey as ever.
From Slate ● Dec. 5, 2024
Perhaps his greatest academic impact resulted from his appeal as faculty dean in 1974 to tighten the loosey-goosey curriculum requirements for graduation.
From New York Times ● Nov. 16, 2022
“It made people more serious,” she said of the pandemic, “not so loosey-goosey ... It’s going to for sure leave a mark on our generation.”
From Reuters ● Dec. 24, 2020
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.
