New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.
Feckless — Feck less, a. [Perh. a corruption of effectless.] Spiritless; weak; worthless. [Scot] [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
feckless — index futile, inadept, inadequate, ineffective, ineffectual, lax, otiose, unable Burton s Legal Thesaurus … Law dictionary
feckless — 1590s, from feck, effect, value, vigor (late 15c.), Scottish shortened form of EFFECT (Cf. effect); popularized by Carlyle, who left its opposite, feckful, in dialectal obscurity. Related: Fecklessly; fecklessness … Etymology dictionary
feckless — [adj] without purpose aimless, carefree, careless, feeble, fustian, futile, good fornothing*, hopeless, incautious, incompetent, ineffective, ineffectual, irresponsible, meaningless, reckless, shiftless, uncareful, useless, weak, wild, worthless; … New thesaurus
feckless — ► ADJECTIVE 1) ineffectual; feeble. 2) unthinking and irresponsible. DERIVATIVES fecklessly adverb fecklessness noun. ORIGIN from Scots and northern English dialect feck, from effeck, variant of EFFECT(Cf. ↑effect) … English terms dictionary
feckless — [fek′lis] adj. [Scot < feck (aphetic for EFFECT) + LESS] 1. weak; ineffective 2. careless; irresponsible fecklessly adv. fecklessness n … English World dictionary
feckless — [16] From an etymological point of view, feckless is simply another way of saying ineffective. It originated in Scotland, where from the 15th century the local population economized on the pronunciation of effect, reducing it to feck (this… … The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins
feckless — [[t]fe̱kləs[/t]] ADJ GRADED (disapproval) If you describe someone as feckless, you mean that they lack determination or strength, and are unable to do anything properly. [FORMAL] He regarded the young man as feckless and irresponsible. Syn:… … English dictionary
feckless — [16] From an etymological point of view, feckless is simply another way of saying ineffective. It originated in Scotland, where from the 15th century the local population economized on the pronunciation of effect, reducing it to feck (this… … Word origins
feckless — fecklessly, adv. fecklessness, n. /fek lis/, adj. 1. ineffective; incompetent; futile: feckless attempts to repair the plumbing. 2. having no sense of responsibility; indifferent; lazy. [1590 1600; orig. Scots, equiv. to feck, late ME (Scots) fek … Universalium
feckless — adjective /ˈfɛkləs,ˈfɛklɪs/ a) Lacking purpose. It is the beauty of great games when they are played at their highest level and the extraordinary thing now is that we do not have to trawl back through all the years of your inexorable progress… … Wiktionary
