ne'er-do-well英语原文释义、词形变化、词源和词汇关系

英文释义

名词 n.

A person without a means of support; an idle, worthless person; a loafer; a person who is ineffectual, unsuccessful, or completely lacking in merit; a good-for-nothing.

— So they have trooped forth to organize village down-and-outs and ne'er-do-wells into would-be combat units.
A person who is up to no good; a rogue.

形容词 adj.

Showing the characteristics of a ne'er-do-well: indolent, worthless, or roguish.

— The brother who sought me out and would have redeemed me from the power of darkness, but he couldn't; and has robbed himself of joy and comfort in life to keep his ne'er-do-well brother from starvation; who has paid his debts over and taken him out of jail again and again....

词形变化

ne'er-do-wells plural more ne'er-do-well comparative most ne'er-do-well superlative

词源

词源 1

From the phrase never do well.
"Ne'er-do-well" is a contracted compound word stemming from the combination of the words "never do well."
“Never-do-well” is sometimes used as an offhand, expanded version of the phrase, where “never” is not contracted. The usage of this version is often attributed to the northeastern United States.

词源 2

From the phrase never do well.
"Ne'er-do-well" is a contracted compound word stemming from the combination of the words "never do well."
“Never-do-well” is sometimes used as an offhand, expanded version of the phrase, where “never” is not contracted. The usage of this version is often attributed to the northeastern United States.