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lousy

/ˈlaʊ.zi/adjective

lousy is spelled L-O-U-S-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,336th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, lousy means “Insufficient and less than expected of a good thing” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in lousy?

Letters5: L-O-U-S-Y
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing2.0 times per million words; the 19,336th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is lousy?

Lousy appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,336th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce lousy?

  • /ˈlaʊ.zi/

Lousy has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-lousy.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vininn126-lousy.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of lousy

  • lousier comparative
  • lousiest superlative
  • lousey

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does lousy mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    colloquialInsufficient and less than expected of a good thing.

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

  2. 2

    colloquialRemarkably bad; of poor quality.

    No offense, but his cooking is lousy.

  3. 3

    colloquialDirty or untidy.

    I cleaned the lousy garage.

  4. 4

    colloquialUnderhanded; mean; contemptible.

    I've had enough of lousy backstabbing at this place.

  5. 5

    colloquialUnwell; under the weather.

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

  6. 6

    Infested with lice.

  7. 7

    colloquialFilled or packed (with something, usually bad).

    The place was lousy with students.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Lousy in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpouilleux, minable, pourri, à chier, de merde (remarkably bad; of poor quality, dirty, or…)
Germanlausig (remarkably bad; of poor quality, dirty, or…), verlaust (Infested with lice)
Portuguesepéssimo, horrível, fuleiro (remarkably bad; of poor quality, dirty, or…), piolhoso, piolhento (Infested with lice)
Spanishpésimo, penoso, malísimo, fatal, pulento, (estar) de madre (remarkably bad; of poor quality, dirty, or…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does lousy come from?

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

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after lousy