feckless

English

WOTD – 15 April 2008

Etymology

From Scots feckless, variant of Scots fectless (“ineffectual”) (an aphetic variant of effectless), equivalent to effect +‎ -less.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfɛkləs/, /ˈfɛklɪs/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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• Rhymes: -ɛkləs, -ɛklɪs

Adjective

feckless (comparative more feckless, superlative most feckless)

1. Lacking purpose.
   • 2005 September 10, Canberra Times:

     It is the beauty of great games when they are played at their highest level and the extraordinary thing now is that we do not have to trawl back through all the years of your inexorable progress from feckless beach boy to master sportsman.

2. Without skill, ineffective, incompetent.
   • 2014 March 24, Adam Reed, “On the Carpet” (4:14 from the start), in Archer‎^[1], season 5, episode 9, spoken by Malory Archer (Jessica Walter):

     “Lana, when I want you to talk, I will tell you. And until then, zip it.” “Wha-- what did I do?” “Nothing.” “Yeah, Lana.” “Which is why these feckless idiots lost 200 kilos of cocaine.” “Yeah, Lan-- oh. OK. Technically. But then we stole a plane loaded with, like, twice as much cocaine.” “Is this the part where you tell me to look under my seat?”

   • 2025 March 20, Cameron Joseph, “Panicked Democratic voters are turning on their own leaders”, in The Christian Science Monitor:

     Across the country, Democratic voters who have been reeling from Mr. Trump’s sweeping and possibly illegal cuts to government, his head-spinning policy moves, and his politicization of federal law enforcement are growing more and more incensed at their own party’s seemingly feckless response.

3. Lacking the courage to act in any meaningful way.
4. (British, archaic) Lacking vitality.

Synonyms

• (weak, ineffective): futile, hopeless, ineffective, ineffectual, feeble, meaningless, useless
• (worthless, irresponsible): unpurposed, worthless, aimless, careless, reckless, irresponsible

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “weak, ineffective”): effective, efficient, meaningful, useful
• (antonym(s) of “worthless, irresponsible”): purposeful, careful, responsible

Related terms

• fecklessly
• fecklessness

Translations

lacking purpose

• Bulgarian: безцелен (bg) (bezcelen), напразен (bg) (naprazen)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 廢嘅 / 废嘅 (fai³ ge³)

• Danish: hjælpeløs (da), initiativløs
• Dutch: doelloos (nl)
• Finnish: päämäärätön (fi), joutavanpäiväinen (fi)
• French: irréfléchi (fr), irresponsable (fr)
• German: nichtsnutzig (de), nutzlos (de), ziellos (de)
• Greek: άσκοπος (el) (áskopos)
• Norwegian: hjelpeløs, initiativløs
• Romanian: ineficient (ro), inutil (ro)
• Russian: бесце́льный (ru) (bescélʹnyj), напра́сный (ru) (naprásnyj)
• Swedish: hjälplös (sv), rådlös (sv)

without skill, ineffective

• Bulgarian: вял (bg) (vjal), безполезен (bg) (bezpolezen)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 冇出息嘅 (mou⁵ ceot¹ sik¹ ge³)

• Danish: hjælpeløs (da), uduelig
• Dutch: inefficiënt (nl), onhandig (nl)
• Finnish: aikaansaamaton (fi), saamaton (fi), avuton (fi), pystymätön (fi)
• French: incapable (fr)
• German: unfähig (de), untauglich (de), wirkungslos (de), ineffizient (de), ineffektiv (de)
• Greek: ανίκανος (el) (aníkanos)
• Ido: nekapabla (io)
• Norwegian: hjelpeløs, udugelig (no), ubehjelpelig
• Russian: бесполе́зный (ru) (bespoléznyj), вя́лый (ru) (vjályj)
• Swedish: oduglig (sv)

lacking vitality

• Bulgarian: вял (bg) (vjal), слаб (bg) (slab)
• Dutch: futloos (nl)
• Finnish: saamaton (fi), heikkotahtoinen
• German: kraftlos (de), schlapp (de), lahmarschig (de)
• Greek: ασθενής (el) (asthenís)
• Russian: вя́лый (ru) (vjályj), сла́бый (ru) (slábyj)

lacking the courage to act in any meaningful way

• Bulgarian: безпомощен (bg) (bezpomošten)
• Dutch: lamlendig (nl)
• Finnish: neuvoton (fi), saamaton (fi), tahdoton (fi), heikkoluonteinen
• German: schwach (de), mutlos (de), schlaff (de), matt (de), unmotiviert (de)
• Greek: άβουλος (el) (ávoulos)
• Russian: беспо́мощный (ru) (bespómoščnyj)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Icelandic: ^{(please verify)} tilgangslaus (is)

Further reading

• “feckless”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “feckless”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Scots

Alternative forms

• fectless (obsolete)

Etymology

feck (“value”) +‎ -less

Adjective

feckless (not comparable)

1. ineffective

References

• “feckless”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.