Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One that is worthless.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A good-for-nothing, worthless fellow; a scamp.
  • Worthless; wasteful.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Wasteful; slothful.
  • noun Archaic One who loses by sloth or neglect; a worthless person; a lorel.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun archaic A worthless or despicable person.
  • adjective Worthless; wasteful.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from lōsen, past participle of lēsen, to lose, from Old English -lēosan; see lorn.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English losel (also lorel), from *losen, loren, past participle of lesen ("to lose"), equivalent to lose +‎ -le.

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Examples

  • “A murrain on thee, thou lazy losel!” said Rudolph — “Thou art the only sluggard of thy kyn.”

    Anne of Geierstein 2008

  • And each losel receives him with bark and with bite:

    The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night 2006

  •         Knowing yet right well Jove, what a losel is he.

    Poems and Fragments 2006

  •         Knowing yet right well Jove, what a losel is he.

    Poems and Fragments 2006

  • But its happiest effect was, that not another lawsuit took place throughout the whole of his administration; and the office of constable fell into such decay that there was not one of those losel scouts known in the province for many years.

    Washington Irving 2004

  • Punch Costello was of them all embraided and they reclaimed the churl with civil rudeness some and shaked him with menace of blandishments others whiles they all chode with him, a murrain seize the dolt, what a devil he would be at, thou chuff, thou puny, thou got in peasestraw, thou losel, thou chitterling, thou spawn of

    Ulysses 2003

  • But its happiest effect was that not another lawsuit took place throughout the whole of his administration, and the office of constable fell into such decay that there was not one of those losel scouts known in the province for many years.

    Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 8 Charles Herbert Sylvester

  • Years ago there was a young Bilkins, one Pendexter Bilkins -- a sad losel, we fear -- who ran away to try his fortunes before the mast, and fell overboard in a gale off Hatteras.

    Humorous Masterpieces from American Literature Various

  • Wasn't that "lewd losel" told by the Kentish Archbishop how useful such music might be say if a pilgrim struck his toe on a stone? '

    Cinderella in the South Twenty-Five South African Tales Arthur Shearly Cripps 1910

  • But its happiest effect was that not another lawsuit took place throughout the whole of his administration; and the office of constable fell into such decay that there was not one of those losel scouts known in the province for many years.

    Little Masterpieces of American Wit and Humor Volume I Various 1900

Comments

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  • A worthless person.

    May 12, 2008

  • "But one sad losel soils a name for aye..."

    -- Childe Harold's Pilgrimage

    November 20, 2009

  • His phony compassionate pose'll

    Be seen as a feeble proposal,

    The work of a loser,

    A clumsy fake newser,

    A "leader" who's only a losel.

    September 10, 2017

  • There are no definitions, comments nor examples on qhalur so I have no idea how the 'same context' bot selects it.

    September 11, 2017