no-good
Americanadjective
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lacking worth or merit; useless; bad.
This no-good faucet never did work properly. Her no-good brother sold me the car.
noun
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a person or thing that is worthless or undependable.
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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.
Etymology
Origin of no-good
An Americanism dating back to 1905–10
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.
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
Let me tell you something: The N.F.L. is another no-good entity.
From New York Times • Jan. 5, 2022
Sorkin aside, some queer performers came out okay, on some level, in the terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad year that was 2021.
From Salon • Dec. 28, 2021
So when she saw Trotter’s purse with its no-good fastener lying wide open on the bed, inviting her, practically demanding her to look in, she did so.
From "The Great Gilly Hopkins" by Katherine Paterson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.