LOUSY Synonyms: 338 Similar and Opposite Words

lousy

adjective

ˈlau̇-zē

Definition of lousy

as in lame

arousing or deserving of one's loathing and disgust why, you lousy cheater!

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in poor

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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in terrible

extremely unsatisfactory the restaurant served a lousy meal that we shouldn't have had to pay for

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in cheap

of low quality a tacky store selling lousy souvenirs

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in crowded

possessing or covered with great numbers or amounts of something specified a Manhattan neighborhood that is lousy with wannabe actors

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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 But maintenance fees, restrictions, availability, and a notoriously lousy resale market can turn the cost of access into a headache. — Bydoug Ashburn, Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 Sep. 2026 His Hall of Fame status no doubt took a hit after lousy stints with the Jets and Steelers following his tremendous run in Green Bay. — Bill Reinhard, New York Daily News, 23 Aug. 2026 That have to do with overregulation and a lousy business climate? — Katherine Gregg, The Providence Journal, 13 Aug. 2026 He’s made some pretty good moves and some pretty lousy ones during his tenure. — Jen McCaffrey, New York Times, 28 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for lousy

Recent Examples of Synonyms for lousy

Adjective

Blumenthal hopes to see action on KOSA in the lame-duck session.

— Lisa Hagen, Hartford Courant, 2 Oct. 2026
Only to see them, after winning elections, get strong-armed by the party, then offer lame excuses as to why.

— Colleen Kujawa, Chicago Tribune, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of lame

Adjective

Measles usually kills two or three people in every 1,000 cases, the WHO says, but the disease can be more deadly in poorer nations because of factors such as malnutrition.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 18 Oct. 2026
That receiver sends that poor defender into next week at the pylon.

— Zach Dean OutKick, FOXNews.com, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of poor

Adjective

And then none of it mattered because his special teams bailed him out with a big kick return (thanks to a terrible decision by Eagles coach Nick Sirianni to even allow a kick return in the first place) followed by a walk-off field goal.

— Dan Zaksheske OutKick, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2026
The story follows the transformation of Adriana (Colin), a woman shattered by a terrible murder and who discovers the strength to start over, driven by an unquenchable thirst for justice.

— Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 11 Oct. 2026

Definition of terrible

Adjective

Investors now see access to cheap and reliable power as a precondition for European companies to compete long-term.

— Sophie Dembinski, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026
Telehealth sites hit their first jackpot in the 2010s, when Viagra and other drugs for erectile dysfunction came off patent, allowing for the sale of cheaper generics.

— Anna Cooban, CNN Money, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of cheap

Adjective

Congress weighs competing proposals Anthropic’s draft enters a crowded legislative debate over how the United States should regulate frontier AI.

— Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 17 Oct. 2026
Ofelia Montes de Oca, a 56-year-old resident who has lived in Pinecrest for 40 years, was among those in the crowded cafe.

— Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of crowded

Adjective

The idea of not spending evenings with my kid is, kids are, is completely unacceptable.

— Michael Birnbaum The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 14 Oct. 2026
OpenAI took months to discover the incident and notify the Australian agencies affected — that’s unacceptable by my standard.

— Rumman Chowdhury, Vogue, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of unacceptable

Adjective

Despite the identically horrible records, these teams are in different places.

— Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 9 Oct. 2026
In all, the Dodgers drowned out that horrible tomahawk chop with some mighty hacks of their own, winning 3-1 while finally displaying some of the desperation that had been missing.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of horrible

Browse Nearby Words

lousing up

lousy

lout

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Cite this Entry

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“Lousy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lousy. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of lousy

adjective

Example Sentences

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