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no-good

[adjective noh-goo d; noun noh-goo d]Informal.
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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.
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Origin of no-good

An Americanism dating back to 1905–10
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

abandonedabjectbarrenbaseboguscheapcontemptibledespicableemptyfutilegood-for-nothingignobleinconsequentialineffectiveineffectualinferiorinsignificantinutilemeaninglessmediocre

Examples from the Web for no-good

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • I planned tuh have all these no-good nephews sign that paper.

  • So that's Buck Tarrant—a halfsized, poisonous, no-good kid who wanted to be a hardcase.

    The Draw

    Jerome Bixby

  • If we could only trace that call I'd break that no-good's neck!

    Direct Wire

    Clee Garson

  • “No-good friends of Antón and Celeste probably,” she returned.

    Whispering Walls

    Mildred A. Wirt

  • You're worse than one of them slippin', dancin', three-legged, no-good Grants.

Word Origin and History for no-good

adj.

1908, from phrase no good "good for nothing." As a noun, first recorded 1924; variant no-goodnik (see -nik) first attested 1960.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper