ne'er-do-well
/ˈnɛɹ.duˌwɛl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.83 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
4
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A person without a means of support; an idle, worthless person; a loafer; a person who is ineffectual, unsuccessful, or completely lacking in merit; a good-for-nothing.
noun
A person who is up to no good; a rogue.
adj
Showing the characteristics of a ne'er-do-well: indolent, worthless, or roguish.
Example Sentences
- "So they have trooped forth to organize village down-and-outs and ne'er-do-wells into would-be combat units."
- "Clara's father, a trollish ne'er-do-well who spent most of his time in brothels and saloons, would disappear for days and weeks at a stretch, leaving Clara and her mother to fend for themselves."
- "The brother who sought me out and would have redeemed me from the power of darkness, but he couldn't; and has robbed himself of joy and comfort in life to keep his ne'er-do-well brother from starvation; who has paid his debts over and taken him out of jail again and again...."
- "Before the 1850s, when women figured most prominently in textile employment, the reasons that caused women to seek paid labor—a ne'er-do-well husband, economic distress of the natal family, or a belief that factory work was a road to self-betterment—often precluded their considering an away-from-home cure."
- "Think of the scorn with which Nicholas Nicklebys Madame Mantalini treats her ne'er-do-well' husband from whom she insists "on being separated and left to myself....""
Etymology
From the phrase never do well. "Ne'er-do-well" is a contracted compound word stemming from the combination of the words "never do well." “Never-do-well” is sometimes used as an offhand, expanded version of the phrase, where “never” is not contracted. The usage of this version is often attributed to the northeastern United States.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈnɛɹ.duˌwɛl/
- British English: /ˈnɛə.duˌwɛl/