ne'er-do-well
/ˈnɛə.duˌwɛl/
"ne-er-do-well" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ne'er-do-well” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A person without a means of support; an idle, worthless person; a loafer; a person who is ineffectual, unsuccessful, or completely lacking in merit; a good-for-nothing.
Corpus desk
Index EN-ne-er-do-well · ne'er-do-well · English
ne'er-do-well · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 13 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "N" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ne'er-do-well |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈnɛə.duˌwɛl/ |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “ne'er-do-well” in English
Rare enough to double-check
ne'er-do-well is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈnɛə.duˌwɛl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
ne'er-do-well has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From the phrase never do well. "Ne'er-do-well" is a contracted compound word stemming from the combination of the words "never do well." “Never-do-well” is sometimes used as an offhand, expanded version of the phrase, where “never” is not contracted. The us… The correct English form is ne'er-do-well, spelled N-E-'-E-R---D-O---W-E-L-L.
Definition
- 1A person without a means of support; an idle, worthless person; a loafer; a person who is ineffectual, unsuccessful, or completely lacking in merit; a good-for-nothing.
- 2A person who is up to no good; a rogue.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how ne'er-do-well appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
So they have trooped forth to organize village down-and-outs and ne'er-do-wells into would-be combat units.
Clara's father, a trollish ne'er-do-well who spent most of his time in brothels and saloons, would disappear for days and weeks at a stretch, leaving Clara and her mother to fend for themselves.
Etymology
From the phrase never do well. "Ne'er-do-well" is a contracted compound word stemming from the combination of the words "never do well." “Never-do-well” is sometimes used as an offhand, expanded version of the phrase, where “never” is not contracted. The usage of this version is often attributed to the northeastern United States.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.