ne'er-do-well
English · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
ne'er-do-well
- /ˈnɛə.duˌwɛl/ UK
- /ˈnɛɹ.duˌwɛl/ US
Where it comes from
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.
noun ne'er-do-wells
- 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. So they have trooped forth to organize village down-and-outs and ne'er-do-wells into would-be combat units.
- A person who is up to no good; a rogue.
adjective more ne'er-do-well · most ne'er-do-well
-
Showing the characteristics of a ne'er-do-well: indolent, worthless, or roguish.
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....
Similar: good-for-nothing, nogoodnik, vagabond, never-do-well
Talk about this word "ne'er-do-well." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/ne'er-do-well. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. ne'er-do-well. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/ne'er-do-well "ne'er-do-well." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/ne'er-do-well.Cite this
@misc{ne_er_do_well_2026,
title = {ne'er-do-well},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/ne'er-do-well},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
