Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An idle, irresponsible person.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Likely never to do well; past mending.
- noun One whose conduct indicates that he will never do well; a good-for-nothing.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A person who never does, or fares, well; a good for nothing.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- 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 .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an idle worthless person
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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You can hear it in the tight-lipped anguish of Lady Hester Collyer, the suicidal heroine of "The Deep Blue Sea," who has left her proper husband for a ne'er-do-well test pilot.
Terence Rattigan, Forgotten Centenarian Terry Teachout 2011
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He connected to dots on how Howard Hughes secretly funneled cash to Nixon's ne'er-do-well brother Donald (who dreamed of starting a "Nixonburgers" fast-food chain).
Michael Hudson: Digging Deep: A Treasury of Books About Journalism Michael Hudson 2010
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Ed Norton stars in this film about twin brothers -- one a professor at Brown University, the other a redneck -- who come back together in Oklahoma when the ne'er-do-well, marijuana-dealing brother is implicated in a criminal matter.
Ed Koch: Leaves of Grass (A Mayor Koch Review) Ed Koch 2010
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However, we still hadn't found an actress for the peach role of the nutty, born-again aunt who tries to run everyone's life, particularly her ne'er-do-well son's, by using literal advice taken straight from her Bible.
David Dean Bottrell: Farewell, Mrs. Cleaver David Dean Bottrell 2010
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However, we still hadn't found an actress for the peach role of the nutty, born-again aunt who tries to run everyone's life, particularly her ne'er-do-well son's, by using literal advice taken straight from her Bible.
David Dean Bottrell: Farewell, Mrs. Cleaver David Dean Bottrell 2010
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"We'll see that he's the kind of ne'er-do-well who will bring his 12-year-old daughter on a bounty-hunting expedition."
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Researchers gave 105 students at the University of British Columbia a description of a generic ne'er-do-well—for example, he finds a wallet on the street, takes the cash and tosses the wallet.
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In some ways his performance in The Kids Are All Right is a sequel of sorts to the role that first brought him to Hollywood's attention, as Laura Linney's ne'er-do-well brother in the 2000 indie hit You Can Count On Me.
Mark Ruffalo: the 'journeyman' who's impressed Martin Scorsese, David Fincher and Michel Gondry Tom Shone 2010
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If securities regulators across the nation work together more effectively, Mr. Borg adds, they could reverse the traditional calculation by ne'er-do-well securities firms and brokers that "the reward has always outweighed the risk, even on bad products."
In Alabama, Beware the Borg Jean Eaglesham 2011
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However, we still hadn't found an actress for the peach role of the nutty, born-again aunt who tries to run everyone's life, particularly her ne'er-do-well son's, by using literal advice taken straight from her Bible.
David Dean Bottrell: Farewell, Mrs. Cleaver David Dean Bottrell 2010
madmouth commented on the word ne'er-do-well
Your story's sad to tell
A teenage ne'er-do-well
Most mixed-up non-delinquent on the block
Your future's so unclear now
What's left of your career now?
Can't even get a trade-in on your smock
"Beauty School Dropout" from Grease
April 13, 2009