no-good


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Related to no-good: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

no good

1. adjective Worthless; futile; no use. I'm telling you, it's no good complaining to a receptionist—you need to get a manager on the line.
2. adjective Poor or unsatisfactory in quality. I'm sorry to be blunt, but your writing is no good.
3. adjective Having no positive characteristics. Always hyphenated and used before a noun. That no-good brother of hers ran off with the money.
4. adjective Unfortunate; pitiable. A: "Unfortunately, John is sick with the flu." B: "Oh, that's no good. Tell him I hope he feels better."
5. noun Nothing worthwhile or useful. You can yell all you want, but it will do no good.
6. noun Malicious, harmful, or mischievous activity. What are you boys whispering about? You're up to no good, aren't you?
7. noun A negative or harmful outcome. You'll come to no good if you don't go to a doctor soon.
8. expression That is not what is needed; that will not work. A: "We have confectioner's sugar, will that work?" B: "No good. We need granulated sugar."
See also: good, no
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

no-good

1. n. a worthless person. Tell that no-good to leave.
2. mod. worthless; bad. I have never heard of such a no-good car dealership before.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
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References in periodicals archive ?
On the other hand, in a late poem called "No-Good Blues" he almost seems to say that the great names in high European culture are not as important in his experience: "I try to hide in Proust, / Mallarme, & Camus, but the no-good blues / come looking for me.
Yusef Komunyakaa: Pleasure Dome: New and Collected Poems
They became known as 'da-me architecture' (no-good architecture), a term intended to reflect an equal mixture of affection and disdain.
MADE IN TOKYO
Carmen Sandiego and her band of no-good bandits have done it again.
Where in time is Carmen Sandiego?
Fugard's earliest plays were No-Good Friday and Nongogo (both published in Dimetos and Two Early Plays, 1977), but it was The Blood Knot (1963), produced for stage (1961) and television (1967) in both London and New York City, that established his international reputation.
Fugard, Athol
Athol wrote No-Good Friday in three weeks, but was so anxious to cast the play that he did not finish it.
The apprenticeship years
A young woman raised her hand and explained that she had a perfect illustration of the captive soul--"a homeless person." This confused me, but she explained that homeless people were lazy, no-good burdens on society.
The new social Darwinism: deserving your destitution
As Ayme had it, there was no French Resistance; or, if there was, it was full of no-good Commies, so it didn't matter.
Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll
The kids tangle with the petnappers all over town, but all is nearly lost when Indiana suspects that Tom is a no-good double-crosser who's in cahoots with the bad guys.
Indiana Bamboo
Diane It has been a year since Emily Walters (Keaton) lost her no-good husband Charles and she has channelled her grief and rage into volunteer work.
HAMPSTEAD (12A)
He will need permission under the Allotments Act from Defra - perhaps the "opposition" could give the people of Liverpool the skinny on whether Defra ministers and Lib Dem MPs Dan Rogerson and Roger Williams will say no to Anderson's no-brain, no-good sell-off?
Sell-off is no good
Lisa's no-good sister Joyce (Katee Sackhoff), takes up residence in an old trailer nearby and helps Heidi to make sense of strange visions.
Top chick flicks
After the heavy Thanksgiving travel season, when all the talk was of the United States's inefficient, intrusive, big-government, terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad airport security, some noted that the Good Alternative was Israel, which more effectively and more confidently protects an ostensibly more threatened populace.
We Have Met Israeli Security, and It Is Not Ours
They live in little more than a rural shack, but at least it's a roof over their heads - and now they could end up homeless, thanks to her no-good estranged dad.
WINTER'S BONE (15)
He's a no-good waster who has given up his job and is living off what my daughter brings in.
He's just a no-good waster
Rutgers student Katie Antos, 18, also wouldn't go splitsville over a no-good gift, but "if I won't get anything - maybe," she said.
A third of women would dump their lovers over 'inadequate' X-mas gifts!
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