ˈgood-for-ˌnothing, a. and n.
[The phrase good for nothing used attrib. or as n., and consequently hyphened: see good a. 14.]
A. adj. Of no service or use; worthless.
| 1711 Swift Jrnl. to Stella 6 Nov., We reckon him here a good-for-nothing fellow. 1727 Oldmixon Clarendon & Whitlock v. 253 It was a sort of a good-for-nothing Place, not worth Description. 1785 Wolcot (P. Pindar) Ode to P. Pindar Wks. 1812 I. 79 Young, good-for-nothing dogs. 1818 Byron Juan i. xxv, A little curly-headed, good-for-nothing, And mischief-making monkey. 1841 Lytton Nt. & Morn. i. i, That good-for-nothing brother of yours. 1887 Smiles Life & Labour 212 Lord Chief-Justice Mansfield whose..father was a good-for-nothing man of fashion. |
| absol. 1873 H. Spencer Study Sociol. xiv. (1877) 344 Fostering the good-for-nothing at the expense of the good is an extreme cruelty. |
B. n. One who is good for nothing; a worthless person (
† or thing).
| 1751 R. Paltock P. Wilkins I. xii, After..clearing my House of Good-for-nothings. 1847 Marryat Childr. N. Forest xii, You young good-for-nothing. 1883 Black Shandon Bells xxix, As you are a good-for-nothing, it does not matter where you are. 1887 A. Birrell Obiter Dicta Ser. ii. 183 His brother..was a good-for-nothing, with a dilapidated reputation. |
Hence
good-for-nothingness, the quality or condition of being good for nothing.
| 1741 Richardson Pamela II. 55 They have not kept such elaborate Records of their good-for-nothingness. 1807 Southey in Life (1850) III. 68 You may stay and be smoke⁓dried in London for your good-for-nothingness. 1871 Daily News 14 Feb., The chief beauty of the custom should consist in its dainty, complimentary good-for-nothingness: a Valentine should be [etc.]. 1896 Allbutt's Syst. Med. I. 690 The dyspepsia, the neuralgia, the general ‘good-for-nothingness’ which are expressive of the severity of the illness the patient has passed through. |