no-good

American  

[noh-good, noh-good] / ˈnoʊˈgʊd, ˈnoʊˌgʊd /

adjective

1. lacking worth or merit; useless; bad.

   This no-good faucet never did work properly. Her no-good brother sold me the car.

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noun

1. a person or thing that is worthless or undependable.

no good Idioms  

1. Unsatisfactory, inadequate; also, no use. For example, This work is no good; it'll have to be done over, or It's no good complaining since there's nothing we can do, or I tried to appeal to his sense of generosity, but it did no good. [Mid-1800s] Also see come to an end (to no good), def. 2; do any (no) good.

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Etymology

Origin of no-good

An Americanism dating back to 1905–10

Example Sentences

The president was having a no-good, very bad week.

From Salon • Apr. 6, 2026

Except she was wrong — because besides the totally, horrible, no-good, rotten ending — the show was PERFECT!

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 23, 2023

If you believe you are a terrible, no-good parent, you are not going to feel confident in your parenting skills and will be unmotivated to improve them.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 28, 2022

Waking up in a Holiday Inn to your mother’s declaration that she was divorcing your no-good father.

From New York Times • Jan. 14, 2022

All he had done was to eat a wormy, no-good apple.

From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes