Lousy
/ˈlaʊ.zi/noun
Infested with lice; very poor, unpleasant, or contemptible.
Did you know?The insult sense developed from the older, literal meaning “full of lice,” and that nasty image helped turn the word into a general slur for something worthless or miserable.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
lūsig
“Infested with lice; lousy”
Middle English
ME
lousy
“Infested with lice; plagued by lice”
16th Century
English
lousy
“Full of lice; disgustingly dirty or contemptible”
19th Century
English
lousy
“Bad, unpleasant, or inferior”
Modern English
English
lousy
“Very bad, unpleasant, or contemptible”