Skip to content
ontologydriven
Sign out

Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

loosey-goosey en · ADJ

Meanings

  1. (Canada, US) relaxed
    • “All these other guys are scared to death,” the pinch-hitter kept telling himself as he walked towards the plate, “I’m loosey-goosey, I’m loosey-goosey, I’m loosey-goosey.” 1955, Trent Frayne, “Why Big-League Goalies CRACK Up”, in Maclean's, archived from the original on 09 Apr 2022:
    • They said that he couldn't hit International League pitching because he was too loosey-goosey at the plate. 1946 July 8, “By Jim Coleman”, in The Globe and Mail:
  2. (broadly, informal) laid back; disorganized; scattered
    • "Everything seemed to be real loosey-goosey," Mr. Williams said. "[…]I had lunch with him three times, and each time he said, 'Oh, I forgot to bring the papers.'" 1991, Richard Perez-Pena, “Investment Manager Faces Charges of Securities Fraud”, in The New York Times:
    • I find the description wonderfully familiar, less the droogish quality, than the loosey-goosey opportunism. 2004, Denis Wood, Five Billion Years of Global Change:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
loosey-goosier Degree=Cmp lexicographic
loosiest-goosiest Degree=Sup lexicographic
loosier-goosier Degree=Cmp lexicographic
most loosey-goosey Degree=Sup lexicographic
loosey goosey alternative lexicographic
loosey-goosiest Degree=Sup lexicographic
loosy-goosy alternative lexicographic
more loosey-goosey Degree=Cmp lexicographic