good-for-nothing

Definitions

adj

1

Useless; worthless.

noun

1

A person of little worth or usefulness.

Americans might have taken some comfort from the fact that these critics also expressed similar misgivings about Rhodes Scholars coming from elsewhere. Isis, a student publication, lampooned Australians as good-for-nothings who badly needed education.

Collocations

5

ADJ.

lazy, managed

VERB + GOOD-FOR-NOTHING

disgusted, divorced, marries, marry, remains

GOOD-FOR-NOTHING + NOUN

bum, gutter, husband, layabout, layabouts, someone

PREP.

out, with

ADV.

somehow, such

Thesaurus

Synonyms

noun — an idle worthless person

adjective — without merit

good-for-naught
meritless
no-account
no-count
no-good
sorry

Antonyms

Idioms & Phrases

Example Bank

6

01

Americans might have taken some comfort from the fact that these critics also expressed similar misgivings about Rhodes Scholars coming from elsewhere. Isis, a student publication, lampooned Australia

Wiktionary

02

She divorced her good-for-nothing husband because she was disgusted with him.

Tatoeba · #240950

03

Everybody had looked on him as a good-for-nothing.

Tatoeba · #276567

04

Those good-for-nothing layabouts were sacked.

Tatoeba · #329485

05

I'm a good-for-nothing bum.

Tatoeba · #433739

06

She's going to ruin her life if she marries that good-for-nothing. Someone should knock some sense into her.

Tatoeba · #626499

Usage Notes

i Register

In some senses, good-for-nothing is marked as idiomatic. Watch for register when choosing this word.