lousy

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Very bad; of poor quality.

   I worked here all summer and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.

2. 2
   adj

   Feeling ill or unwell.

   I caught a cold and I've been feeling lousy all week.

3. 3
   adj

   Full of or crowded with something (usually unwanted).

   The place was lousy with tourists during the summer.

Simplified etymology

Lousy is formed from louse, an Old English word of Germanic origin. From early times it meant both “full of lice” and, figuratively, “dirty” or “contemptible.” The sense “abundantly supplied,” as in “lousy with money,” arose in mid 19th-century American English.

From Middle English lousy, lowsy, lousi, equivalent to louse + -y.

Topics

External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary