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as in poor
falling short of a standard I actually play a pretty lousy game of tennis

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of lousy Trump might also set back democratic values by coercing Ukraine into a lousy peace or supporting Hungarian President Viktor Orban and other rulers who seek to dismantle European liberalism. Hal Brands, Foreign Affairs, 25 Feb. 2025 Plus a question about Bridgeport’s poor run of play, the lousy Islanders power play and more. Arthur Staple, The Athletic, 19 Feb. 2025 Come the postseason, one lousy half could mean the difference between KU advancing to the next round or going home. Shreyas Laddha, Kansas City Star, 16 Feb. 2025 Eric Adams has been a lousy mayor for the most part, one who couldn’t see the loaf for the crumbs and squandered his political capital on maintaining a dizzying array of corrupt friends and cronies. Harry Siegel, New York Daily News, 15 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for lousy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lousy
Adjective
  • As holidays go, however, Flag Day can feel a bit lame.
    Kevin Fisher-Paulson, San Francisco Chronicle, 8 June 2021
  • My 11-year-old loved watching the pups roll balls and play a giant floor piano, but for non-dog owners (guilty as charged), parts of the series—like dressing dogs in little hats and outfits for a Parisian fashion show—feel lame.
    Tim Neville, Outside Online, 23 Nov. 2020
Adjective
  • And another research team, using data from 2015 to 2022, observed in an article available in Energy Research and Social Science that poor income distribution correlates with social unrest when fossil fuel subsidies are removed.
    Aldo Flores-Quiroga, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2025
  • That poor Texas child is likely not to be the only fatality.
    New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 28 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • This is, on paper, a terrible idea for all involved.
    Zak Garner-Purkis, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2025
  • Photo: Will Hart/NBC via Getty Images The Good-to-Know Smash is largely considered terrible.
    Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 26 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • Read: The cost of avoiding microplastics In the mid-1990s, China emerged as the principal destination for used cups, straws, and the like; the country’s growing manufacturing sector was eager to make use of cheap, recycled raw plastic.
    Scott W. Stern, The Atlantic, 10 Mar. 2025
  • Seeds are also cheaper than purchasing young plants.
    Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 9 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Josephine Chen, a partner at Sequoia, said the crowded market reflects the seriousness of the problem.
    Ashley Capoot, CNBC, 5 Mar. 2025
  • Elite institutions will continue to thrive, as will second-tier schools that can differentiate themselves in a crowded market.
    Scott White, Forbes, 5 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Its pitiful history includes only one application, less than a decade after its formulation, to strike down a delegation in Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, 295 U.S. 495 (1935).
    Marie Sapirie, Forbes, 3 Mar. 2025
  • Kubrick’s film is a hell of a black comedy that satirizes the mediocrity of middle-class life: In the director’s world, fathers are pitiful providers, mothers are blandly cheerful (while quietly suffering enormously), and the kids see far more than their parents do.
    Tim Grierson, Vulture, 21 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • The alternative — courts that fail to protect our fundamental rights — is unacceptable.
    Peter Martin, New York Daily News, 28 Feb. 2025
  • Environmental groups have long opposed the new reservoir and objected to a shorter judicial review, saying the project will release unacceptable amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas, into the air in addition to other adverse impacts.
    Ari Plachta, Sacramento Bee, 28 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • Some compare Sanders to Geno Smith — not flattering, but not horrible.
    Troy Renck, Orlando Sentinel, 2 Mar. 2025
  • Everybody's going to be thrown, according to , into all these horrible situations.
    Hugh Cameron, Newsweek, 26 Feb. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Lousy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lousy. Accessed 13 Mar. 2025.

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