| 释义 |
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.
1711Swift Jrnl. to Stella 6 Nov., We reckon him here a good-for-nothing fellow. 1727Oldmixon Clarendon & Whitlock v. 253 It was a sort of a good-for-nothing Place, not worth Description. 1785Wolcot (P. Pindar) Ode to P. Pindar Wks. 1812 I. 79 Young, good-for-nothing dogs. 1818Byron Juan i. xxv, A little curly-headed, good-for-nothing, And mischief-making monkey. 1841Lytton Nt. & Morn. i. i, That good-for-nothing brother of yours. 1887Smiles Life & Labour 212 Lord Chief-Justice Mansfield whose..father was a good-for-nothing man of fashion.
absol.1873H. 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).
1751R. Paltock P. Wilkins I. xii, After..clearing my House of Good-for-nothings. 1847Marryat Childr. N. Forest xii, You young good-for-nothing. 1883Black Shandon Bells xxix, As you are a good-for-nothing, it does not matter where you are. 1887A. 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.
1741Richardson Pamela II. 55 They have not kept such elaborate Records of their good-for-nothingness. 1807Southey in Life (1850) III. 68 You may stay and be smoke⁓dried in London for your good-for-nothingness. 1871Daily News 14 Feb., The chief beauty of the custom should consist in its dainty, complimentary good-for-nothingness: a Valentine should be [etc.]. 1896Allbutt'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. |