Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

lousy

/ˈlaʊ.zi/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.31 in modern English

Syllables: lousy
IPA: /ˈlaʊ.zi/

8

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Unwanted and often unpleasant.

Colloquial

adj

Unwanted and often unpleasant.

Colloquial

adj

Unwanted and often unpleasant.

Colloquial

adj

Unwanted and often unpleasant.

Colloquial

adj

Unwell; under the weather.

Colloquial

adj

Infested with lice.

adj

Filled or packed (with something, usually bad).

Colloquial

Example Sentences

"I worked here all summer and all I got was this lousy T-shirt."
"No offense, but his cooking is lousy."
"Must have been a lousy school."
"I cleaned the lousy garage."
"I've had enough of lousy backstabbing at this place."
"I caught a cold and I've been feeling lousy all week."

Etymology

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

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: lousy

Usage

Colloquial

Inflected Forms

lousier (comparative) lousiest (superlative) lowsy (alternative, obsolete) lowsie (alternative, obsolete) lousey (alternative)

Derived Forms

lousily lousiness unlousy

Phrases

lousy evil crab louse pubic louse

Frequently Paired Words

cootie crab louse crabs louse pubic louse licey

Synonyms

disagreeable undesired abhorrant abhorrent bad sickly mean infernal bum horrid vile demonic

Rhymes With

drowsy dalhousie blowsy frowzy frouzy

Questions

How do you pronounce lousy?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈlaʊ.zi/.
What does lousy mean?: Unwanted and often unpleasant.
Where does lousy come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce lousy

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “lousy”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈlaʊ.zi/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “lousy”.
Repeat and practice — Say “lousy” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.