1
as in pitiful
arousing or deserving of one's loathing and disgust
that's a pretty lame way to treat someone
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in unacceptable
falling short of a standard
the amenities at this hotel are lame; there's not even free Wi-Fi in the room
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to cripple
to cause severe or permanent injury to
we were afraid that the horse would be lamed by its horrible fall
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of lame
Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 13 Sep. 2025
Paine proposed a lump sum payment of £15 (£2,306 in 2025) to everyone reaching the age of twenty-one and a £10 (£1,537 in 2025) annual pension for the blind and lame, as well as for those fifty and older.
—Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 7 Sep. 2025
Shootouts are lame in comparison.
—Chris Branch, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2025
On the other hand, Powell probably has little incentive to commit firmly given high lame-duck status and the fact that more employment and inflation numbers will hit before the September meeting.
—Michael Santoli, CNBC, 18 Aug. 2025
That s—t gonna be lame 10 years from now.
—Michael Saponara, Billboard, 6 Aug. 2025
The Democratic state Legislature in New York’s lame attempt to join them in undermining representative government will not work.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 4 Aug. 2025
To put it in a different way, my life is pretty lame [laughs].
—José Criales-Unzueta, Vogue, 3 Feb. 2023
Well, this is so lame, but I'm almost finished watching The Sopranos for the very first time ever.
—Lauren Morgan, EW.com, 12 Oct. 2022
Bestreviews, Chicago Tribune, 19 Feb. 2025
There's nothing watery, limp, or lame about an onion boil.
—Melissa Gray, Southern Living, 21 Nov. 2024
And unlike other bread lames that don’t conceal the razor, this one opens and closes for maximum safety.
—Stephanie Osmanski, Better Homes & Gardens, 17 Feb. 2024
The question is, then, how can two lames convince the girls to look their way?
—Vulture, 6 June 2023
Adjective
Another main issue is that the power grind itself now being the endgame is no longer a good motivator to play, nor is the Tier system with 3s not much different than 4s or 5s, and all past weapons being somewhat lame now outside of that system entirely.
—Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 13 Sep. 2025
Paine proposed a lump sum payment of £15 (£2,306 in 2025) to everyone reaching the age of twenty-one and a £10 (£1,537 in 2025) annual pension for the blind and lame, as well as for those fifty and older.
—Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 7 Sep. 2025
Shootouts are lame in comparison.
—Chris Branch, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2025
On the other hand, Powell probably has little incentive to commit firmly given high lame-duck status and the fact that more employment and inflation numbers will hit before the September meeting.
—Michael Santoli, CNBC, 18 Aug. 2025
That s—t gonna be lame 10 years from now.
—Michael Saponara, Billboard, 6 Aug. 2025
The Democratic state Legislature in New York’s lame attempt to join them in undermining representative government will not work.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 4 Aug. 2025
To put it in a different way, my life is pretty lame [laughs].
—José Criales-Unzueta, Vogue, 3 Feb. 2023
Well, this is so lame, but I'm almost finished watching The Sopranos for the very first time ever.
—Lauren Morgan, EW.com, 12 Oct. 2022
Verb
Additional accessories High-end proofing baskets can come with many other helpful accessories like scrapers, bonus lames and even instructional e-books or DVDs.
—Bestreviews, Chicago Tribune, 19 Feb. 2025
There's nothing watery, limp, or lame about an onion boil.
—Melissa Gray, Southern Living, 21 Nov. 2024
And unlike other bread lames that don’t conceal the razor, this one opens and closes for maximum safety.
—Stephanie Osmanski, Better Homes & Gardens, 17 Feb. 2024
The question is, then, how can two lames convince the girls to look their way?
—Vulture, 6 June 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lame
Adjective
-
On the side of the highway, Wilson cuts a pitiful, solitary figure.—
Dan Piepenbring,
Harpers Magazine,
19 Sep. 2025
-
Sewell did a lot to rescue quarterback Jared Goff’s career and transform the pitiful Lions into annual Super Bowl contenders.—
Tom Krasovic,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
16 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Republicans view the proposal as unacceptable.—
Jared Gans,
The Hill,
18 Sep. 2025
-
But with the massive sums of money businesses are putting into CX, a lack of improvement should be seen as unacceptable.—
Tomas Gorny,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Russian hackers crippled the Colonial Gas Pipeline for five days in 2021, causing shortages at 16,200 gas stations along the East Coast and widespread consumer anxiety before the company paid a $5 million ransom to regain access to its computers.—
N'dea Yancey-Bragg,
USA Today,
23 Sep. 2025
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This allowed Google to survive the dotcom crash that crippled its competitors.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
22 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Wahlberg plays a holy fool in Boogie Nights, our naïve but well-endowed guide through the heyday of theatrical pornography and its decline into something cheaper and tawdrier courtesy of the triumph of VHS.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
25 Sep. 2025
-
It’s been used to import cheap foreign labor at the expense of Americans.—
Billal Rahman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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There are 577 bridges in Milwaukee, and only 5% are considered to be in poor condition, according to a new Wisconsin Policy Forum report.—
Anna Kleiber,
jsonline.com,
25 Sep. 2025
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Last week, as financial panic escalated following Milei’s party’s poor showing in local elections, Argentina’s central bank spent more than $1 billion of its foreign currency reserves to keep the peso from collapsing.—
Allison Morrow,
CNN Money,
25 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Another note that came up in the responses to this question is that everyone, of any age, should make sure that there are plans in place for a friend or relative to take care of the dog if the owner is incapacitated or dies.—
R. Eric Thomas,
Mercury News,
18 Sep. 2025
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel needs to incapacitate Hamas in the city to avoid a repeat of the October 7 attack that ignited the war.—
Robert Birsel,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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During their stay, according to family members and personal notes, the stepdaughter, by then 14, walked in on Errol in her room allegedly sniffing her dirty underwear.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
23 Sep. 2025
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Remy handled the second verse on the song and wasted no time getting down and dirty.—
Armon Sadler,
VIBE.com,
23 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Ultimately, Rubio said Kirk proved him wrong.—
N'dea Yancey-Bragg,
USA Today,
21 Sep. 2025
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The teacher said, Every word on this list is wrong!—
Rivka Galchen,
New Yorker,
21 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Lame.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lame. Accessed 26 Sep. 2025.
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