Synonyms

no-account

American

[noh-uh-kount] / ˈnoʊ əˌkaʊnt /

adjective

worthless; good-for-nothing; trifling.

noun

a worthless person; good-for-nothing.

no-account British

adjective

worthless; good-for-nothing

"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

noun

a worthless person

"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

Etymology

Origin of no-account

An Americanism dating back to 1835–45

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.

She’d written hundreds of scripts by the time she published this still-useful how-to book, allegedly with her no-account husband.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2023

Jeff Bridges was probably the only possible casting as the no-account “Rooster” Cogburn, with Hailee Steinfeld as his employer, the 14-year-old Mattie Ross.

From The Guardian • Sep. 7, 2018

By early 2014, IS - which he and other fighters once mocked as a no-account outfit with paltry numbers - had driven rebel factions out of Raqqa.

From BBC • May 3, 2018

Advertisement Advertisement What made the season even sweeter was that the upstart, no-account Senators brought down two New York behemoths.

From New York Times • Aug. 2, 2015

Why does he put up with this no-account that’s runnin’ the Army of the Potomac?

From "Across Five Aprils" by Irene Hunt

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023