losel

[ loh-zuhl, loo-, loz-uhl ]

/ ˈloʊ zəl, ˈlu-, ˈlɒz əl /

Archaic.

Save This Word!

noun

a worthless person; scoundrel.

adjective

worthless or useless.

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of losel

1325–75; Middle English: literally, one who is lost, equivalent to los- (past participle stem of lose) + -el-le

Words nearby losel

lose face, lose ground, lose heart, lose in translation, lose it, losel, lose no time, lose one's bearings, lose one's buttons, lose one's cool, lose oneself in

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use losel in a sentence

Yauch is survived by his wife Dechen Wengdu and their daughter, Losel.
Adam Yauch, a.k.a. MCA, the Beastie Boy Who Transcended Rap, Dead at 47|Chris Lee|May 4, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Sam was but a sad losel, and vexed him in other and more serious matters.
Customs and Fashions in Old New England|Alice Morse Earle
But oh, thou gull—thou dunderpate—thou losel knave, to lose one line moved by her sweet fingers.
Traditions of Lancashire, Volume 2 (of 2)|John Roby
The 'losel,' the moral outcast, keeps his own conceit of truth though through a maze of lies.
A Handbook to the Works of Browning (6th ed.)|Mrs. Sutherland Orr

Speak the truth and it shall profit thee, and do not lie, for lying is of the losel's fashion.
Library Of The World's Best Literature, Ancient And Modern, Vol. 2|Charles Dudley Warner
What more could you do, had he bestowed her upon a churl, a losel or a slave?
The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio|Giovanni Boccaccio

British Dictionary definitions for losel

losel

/ (ˈləʊzəl) archaic, or dialect /

noun

a worthless person

adjective

(of a person) worthless, useless, or wasteful

Word Origin for losel

C14: from losen, from the past participle of lose

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012