feckless

play

adjective feck·less \ ˈfek-ləs \

Definition of feckless

1 :weak, ineffective

She can't rely on her feckless son.

2 :worthless, irresponsible

a feckless maneuver that could only serve to strengthen the enemy
—Simon Schama

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fecklessly

adverb

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fecklessness

noun

See feckless defined for English-language learners

feckless was our Word of the Day on 03/14/2009. Hear the podcast!

Examples of feckless in a Sentence

She can't rely on her feckless son.
a well-intentioned but feckless response to the rise in school violence

Recent Examples of feckless from the Web

The video presents a feckless basketball game, with a group of misfits (the Tigers) pulled from the meme-y Internet recesses facing off against the Sheep . . .

— kenzie bryant, Vanities, "Taylor Swift Could Be the Best Thing to Happen to Katy Perry at the V.M.A.s," 25 Aug. 2017
A common view is that since every other advanced country has a single-payer system, and the advantages of these schemes are pretty clear, the only real obstacles are a lack of imagination, or feckless Democrats and their donors.

— ed kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, "The Growing Battle Within the Progressive Left Over Medicare-for-All," 17 Aug. 2017
Called on to protect a four-run lead, Soria was rendered feckless without the presence of his best off-speed stuff.

— rustin dodd, kansascity, "Royals’ bullpen collapses in the eighth inning in 10-8 loss to A’s," 16 Aug. 2017
Jordan went on to be elected Orleans Parish district attorney in 2002 but proved to be so feckless that he was forced to resign.

— julia o'donoghue, NOLA.com, "At Edwin Edwards' 90th: three governors, sponsor plugs, a slinky red dress," 13 Aug. 2017
Top Cavalier LeBron James' took some feckless batting cage swings at a Cleveland Indians game as a Cavs' draftee.

— bill livingston, cleveland.com, "Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Indians and Dan Gilbert: Bill Livingston (photos)," 18 July 2017
The heir to a hotel-and-movie franchise, the feckless David Schine had reportedly pulled D’s in his first year at Harvard.

— marie brenner, The Hive, "How Donald Trump and Roy Cohn’s Ruthless Symbiosis Changed America," 4 July 2017
The heir to a hotel-and-movie franchise, the feckless David Schine had reportedly pulled D’s in his first year at Harvard.

— marie brenner, The Hive, "How Donald Trump and Roy Cohn’s Ruthless Symbiosis Changed America," 4 July 2017
The heir to a hotel-and-movie franchise, the feckless David Schine had reportedly pulled D’s in his first year at Harvard.

— marie brenner, The Hive, "How Donald Trump and Roy Cohn’s Ruthless Symbiosis Changed America," 4 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'feckless.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Someone feckless is lacking in feck. And what, you may ask, is feck? Feck is a Scots term that means "effect" or "majority" and comes from an alteration of the Middle English effect. So something without feck is without effect, or ineffective. In the past, feckful (meaning "efficient," "sturdy," or "powerful") made an occasional appearance. But in this case, the weak has outlived the strong: feckless is a commonly used English word, but feckful has fallen out of use.