worthlessness en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
Etymology tree English worthless Proto-Germanic *-inōną Proto-Indo-European *-dyé- Proto-Germanic *-atjaną Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Germanic *-þuz Proto-Germanic *-assuz Proto-Germanic *-inassuz Proto-West Germanic *-nassī Old English -nes Middle English -nesse English -ness English worthlessness From worthless + -ness.
Meanings
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(uncountable, usually) The quality of lacking worth, of being valueless, useless or devoid of benefit.
Kids these days far too often attribute low academic grades to feelings of worthlessness.
This general teaching as to the worthlessness of alcohol as a food had been set forth by the leaders in medical profession, and accepted largely by the rank and file of practitioners for about twenty-five years.
1905, Carry Nation, chapter 28, in The Use and Need of the Life of Carry A. Nation, archived from the original on 11 Aug 2014:We see men of all kinds of professed creeds attain to almost all degrees of worth or worthlessness under each or any of them.
1840 May 5, Thomas Carlyle, “Lecture I. The Hero as Divinity. Odin. Paganism: Scandinavian Mythology.”, in On Heroes, Hero-Worship and The Heroic in History, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1840, →OCLC, page 2:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| worthlessnesses | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Translations (22)
la nēquitia (quality of lacking worth) · zh 无价值 (quality of lacking worth) · fa بیارزشی (quality of lacking worth) · ka უფასურობა (quality of lacking worth) · pl bezwartościowość (quality of lacking worth) · ka გამოუსადეგრობა (quality of lacking worth) · gv neufeeuid (quality of lacking worth) · zh 没有价值 (quality of lacking worth) · ca inutilitat (quality of lacking worth) · tr değersizlik (quality of lacking worth) · zh 沒有價值 (quality of lacking worth) · la vilitas (quality of lacking worth) · ota دكرسزلك (quality of lacking worth) · pt inutilidade (quality of lacking worth) · tr kıymetsizlik (quality of lacking worth) · fi arvottomuus (quality of lacking worth) · ca inanitat (quality of lacking worth) · it inane (quality of lacking worth) · zh 無價值 (quality of lacking worth) · ka უვარგისობა (quality of lacking worth) · it inutilità (quality of lacking worth) · tr naçizlik (quality of lacking worth)