no-goods

noun

plural of no-good
1
as in villains
a mean, evil, or unprincipled person neighbors remembered the killer as having been an utter no-good since childhood

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in bums
an idle worthless person we'll have to pay more than minimum wage for the job if we expect to get people other than no-goods

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for no-goods
  1. villains
  2. bums
  3. brutes
  4. derelicts
  5. criminals
  6. beggars
  7. savages
  8. hoboes
Noun
  • Em details how Alan Rickman who played Hans Gruber, one of the most iconic villains in film history, offered director John McTiernan several key ideas that improved the film.
    — Frank Racioppi, Forbes.com, 27 July 2026
  • That moment sealed his fate as one of the biggest Cubs villains in Cubs-Cardinals history.
    — Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 26 July 2026
Definition of villains
Noun
  • The Coliseum stayed in business for 500 years, bums in seats twice a week, watching people hack each other to death.
    — David Frum, The Atlantic, 8 July 2026
  • History buffs, avid hikers, music lovers, wine aficionados, and beach bums will all find a town to love in the Old Dominion.
    — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 9 May 2026
Definition of bums
Noun
  • These brutes commonly exceed 50 pounds.
    — Keith Sutton, Outdoor Life, 18 June 2026
  • In Raspail’s tale, hordes of impoverished and dark-​skinned brutes from India descend onto French shores by way of rafts, the first wave of an invasion of the civilized West by the brown-​skinned developing world.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 8 Apr. 2026
Definition of brutes
Noun
  • Rational fears or no, the fact remains that the 24 acres of Bayfront Park belong right now to a few misfits and derelicts.
    — Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 27 Mar. 2026
Definition of derelicts
Noun
  • The detective-heroines (and especially the actress-detectives) in this canon are careful about how performance might be extended to social duplicity, dishonesty, and fraud—but the lady criminals of Victorian detective fiction cross this line easily.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 24 July 2026
  • From 1873 to 1991, the island served as Costa Rica’s principal penitentiary, where some of the country’s worst criminals were sent to serve often short and torturous sentences.
    — Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 24 July 2026
Definition of criminals
Noun
  • The War In times of peace, Odysseus, king of Ithaca, and his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) had hosted parties in their palace for all — even beggars were welcome.
    — Tanya Fedak, Variety, 18 July 2026
  • Gobert was chief among the beggars imploring his teammates for a shred of consistency on that end of the floor.
    — Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 27 Apr. 2026
Definition of beggars
Noun
  • Or a group of shipwrecked boys turning into savages and killing one another?
    — Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times, 8 June 2026
  • The Indians in Westerns had war paint and whooped like savages.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 May 2026
Definition of savages
Noun
  • The former, in which Burnett and Hamilton did a song-and-dance routine as Dust Bowl-era hobos, marked the first of several times that the two performed together.
    — Rachel Syme, New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2025
  • From oversized, slouchy hobos to structured East-West silhouettes and laptop-ready work totes, this season’s best suede bags deliver a luxurious polish that will elevate every fall wardrobe.
    — Lauren Alexis Fisher, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2025
Definition of hoboes
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.

Browse Nearby Words

no-goodniks
no-goods
no-holds-barred
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“No-goods.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/no-goods. Accessed 30 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of sultry

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

Why does English have so many silent letters?

Your vs. You're: How to Use Them Correctly
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
chain-question-mark
Missing Link Quiz July 2026 Five seconds to figure out the word that fits bot...
See All