good-for-nothing

Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical, Financial, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

Like this video? Subscribe to our free daily email and get a new idiom video every day!

good for nothing

Entirely without value; of no use whatsoever. Hyphenated if used as a modifier before a noun. This junky old computer my dad gave me is good for nothing! That good-for-nothing son of mine has been doing nothing but lying on the couch for the past two months!

good-for-nothing

If you describe someone as good-for-nothing, you mean that they are lazy and irresponsible. Ruth's father was a rich, charming, but good-for-nothing man. He lived with his alcoholic mother and her good-for-nothing boyfriend in a trailer park. Note: You can also call a person a good-for-nothing. She called him `a lazy, deceitful good-for-nothing'.

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

good-for-nothing

1. mod. worthless. (Usually having to do with a person.) Let’s get rid of this good-for-nothing car right now.

2. n. a worthless person. (Also a rude term of address.) Tell the good-for-nothing to leave.

See also:

References in periodicals archive ?

Bankers and politicians helped to show that the Noughties wayoutwest Steve Dub in Carmarthen We learned that nothing could stop good-for-nothings who earn very large sums of money giving themselves enormous bonuses for doing what they're paid to do, whether they're any good or not.

9/11, Bush, Blair and MPs helped turn Noughties into the naughties; OPINION

SO do the good-for-nothing minor royals living it up in Kensington Palace at the taxpayers' expense, give the public value for money?

Clare Morrisroe column: No room for royal parasites

One in three policemen is criminal, drug-tainted, or a good-for-nothing son of a b-h.

No to a Red-controlled labor dept

Woe unto the Houthis, who provided this good-for-nothing group an opportunity to stage a comeback in Yemen.

Al-Qaeda back in business

One person who isn't happy is Dan's housemate Bob, who's been telling Dan that Kerry is a good-for-nothing sponger.

Kerry back with bang; Hit-and-run victim gets the cold shoulder on return to the village

Yet that was nothing compared to the next stage of the Morels' relationship, in which Gertrude has to swing for her good-for-nothing spouse.

TV Insider: TVi; Behind the scenes with Nicola Methven

Miss Cottle's case highlights the appalling attitude to the elderly in our society: once you reach a certain age you are deemed dispensable and good-for-nothing and are presumed to have no rights.

Show respect; YOUR LETTERS

Islam is a simple religion, which these good-for-nothing people are trying to hijack.

Good Muslim

THOSE MPs and Tory pundits so quick to condemn Cherie Blair for "cashing in" on her husband's position have been eloquently quiet about the latest revelations concerning Lady Thatcher when she was PM and the iffy finances of her good-for-nothing son.

STOTTY: THATCHER STAYS MUM

After one particularly bad, Nick Leeson-like term as a lazy, good-for-nothing student, things were getting desperate.

Des Kelly's column: How Wimbledon chiefs blew my cover

I'm sorry, but if Andrew is trying to erase his public image as the Lazy Good-for-Nothing Prince and replace it with the Caring Sharing Prince he should go and practice somewhere else.