1
2
as in poor
falling short of a standard I actually play a pretty lousy game of tennis

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

3
4
5

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 Yet, all across this big world, lousy encounters continue. Alex Abad-Santos, Vox, 3 May 2025 For Soto, this was what qualified as a pretty lousy stretch of ball. Sam Settleman, New York Times, 3 May 2025 The reasons for consumers’ ongoing lousy mood have changed over the years: Obviously the pandemic caused sentiment to fall in 2020. Michael Foster, Forbes.com, 26 Apr. 2025 Two elite closers looking anything but on Wednesday afternoon, pitching the same lousy 9th. Mike Lupica, New York Daily News, 12 Apr. 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
  • The original doesn’t go that deeply into it, but this poor girl was essentially forced to be a teen mom at this time in her life when all of her friends would be graduating high school and dating and thinking about their futures.
    Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 24 May 2025
  • The product was released in 2023 to a poor reception, and discontinued before the company began winding down operations in February.
    Tom Huddleston Jr., CNBC, 24 May 2025
Adjective
  • Djokovic knew he’d be seeded to play one of Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev or Taylor Fritz in the quarters, and in the end landed Zverev, which isn’t a terrible outcome, but would leave him with a possible Sinner-Alcaraz double bill in the semifinals and final to lift the trophy.
    Charlie Eccleshare, New York Times, 22 May 2025
  • One night the fish was very overcooked and covered with a terrible sauce.
    Sheah Rarback, Miami Herald, 22 May 2025
Adjective
  • Three or four people to one cabin was far cheaper than the same number of people booking three or four plane tickets to get to Spain.
    Jack Pitt-Brooke, New York Times, 21 May 2025
  • Once delivered, framing and panel assembly are faster and cheaper than conventional builds—cutting structural build time by 40% and labor costs by 20%.
    Jennifer Castenson, Forbes.com, 21 May 2025
Adjective
  • While expanding its enrollment, adding new programs and building new centers, students have complained of crowded housing and dining areas, parking shortages and some offerings that are stretched thin, such as services for immigrant students.
    Jaweed Kaleem, Los Angeles Times, 29 May 2025
  • At least nine of the 25 arrested have landed in immigration detention — scattered across the country from a crowded lockup in Miami to a facility in a sleepy Texas railway town to a confinement in a Pacific Northwest port city overlooked by Mount Rainier.
    Hannah Critchfield, Sun Sentinel, 29 May 2025
Adjective
  • But the rates were pitiful: $9.87 for a 13-mile trip, $19.97 for a 25-mile trip and so on.
    Eli Tan, New York Times, 14 May 2025
  • Israel’s performance in climate mitigation, moving to renewable energies, is pitiful — just 12% when some countries are 70%.
    JTA Staff Report, Sun Sentinel, 5 May 2025
Adjective
  • The first project yields too many false positives, introducing an unacceptable amount of friction into the consumer experience.
    Shazia Manus, Forbes.com, 23 May 2025
  • But Humane Society officials insist any cut over $1 million is unacceptable and will prompt the nonprofit to stop providing service to the city.
    David Garrick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 May 2025
Adjective
  • There’s no doubt that Lewis, abandoned as a baby by his parents, has done some horrible stuff.
    Tony Maglio, HollywoodReporter, 26 May 2025
  • Given the horrible economic incentives that government regulation has created, the surprise is not that some patients experience mistreatment.
    John C. Goodman, Forbes.com, 24 May 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Lousy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lousy. Accessed 1 Jun. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on lousy

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!