Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

quisby

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: quis-by
IPA

20

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A wretch; an idle person.

Obsolete; Slang

adj

Mean; destitute; strange.

British usage; Archaic; Slang

adj

In difficult circumstances; in trouble.

British usage; Archaic; Slang

adj

British usage; Archaic; Slang

Example Sentences

"[S]he told me as things was a-goin' werry quisby with 'em Wilkses. I says, "I'm sorry for 'er, but he's a party I don't 'old with, as in my opinion deserves to want, only but for others as would want with 'im." She says, "He's been and got 'isself in a 'ole with them books as he've been lewanted with, and will get two years over it, they say," and so he did, […]"
""[…] Did you know that my husband came home intoxicated?" Mrs. Brown laughed. "Oh, not so bad as that, surely! Only a little 'screwed.' George was 'quisby,' too. But then its Christmas, you know.""

Etymology

Uncertain; perhaps quiz + -by, or from queer or Queer Street (“difficult circumstances”).

Word Breakdown

Suffix: quiz

Usage

Inflected Forms

quisbies (plural) more quisby (comparative) most quisby (superlative)

Questions

What does quisby mean?: A wretch; an idle person.
Where does quisby come from?: Uncertain; perhaps quiz + -by, or from queer or Queer Street (“difficult circumstances”).

How to pronounce quisby

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