Definition of ne'er-do-well. : an idle worthless person. Other Words from ne'er-do-well Synonyms Learn More About ne'er-do-well.

Ne'er-do-well definition, an idle, worthless person; a person who is ineffectual, unsuccessful, or completely lacking in merit; good-for-nothing. See more.

Ne'er-do-well: having no ambition, success, or value to society. Synonyms: good-for-nothing, no-account, no-good… Find the right word.

Define neer-do-well. neer-do-well synonyms, neer-do-well pronunciation, neer-do-well translation, English dictionary definition of neer-do-well. n. 1. an idle, worthless person; good-for-nothing. adj. 2. worthless; ineffectual; good-for-nothing.

ne'er-do-well definition: 1. someone who is lazy or not willing to act in a responsible way 2. someone who is lazy or not…. Learn more.

noun. A person who is lazy and irresponsible. ‘a bit of a ne'er-do-well whose only interests seemed to be cards and boozing’. More example sentences. ‘This latter activity comes courtesy of a controversial religious camp for rascally teen ne'er-do-wells.’.

The term 'ne'er do well' is of course a contraction of 'never do well'. Ne'er has been used in that shortened form since the 13th century, notably in the North of England and in Scotland. 'Ne'er do well' itself originated in Scotland and an early citation of it in print is found in the Scottish poet and playwright Allan Ramsay's A collection of Scots proverbs, 1737: Some ha'e a hantla fauts [have …