lousy

• lowsy, lowsie (obsolete)
• lousey (uncommon, except in the literal sense relating to lice)

From Middle English lousy, lowsy, lousi, equivalent to louse +‎ -y.

• IPA^(key): /ˈlaʊ.zi/

• Audio (Southern England):

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• Audio (US):

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• Rhymes: -aʊzi

lousy (comparative lousier, superlative lousiest)

1. (colloquial) Unwanted and often unpleasant.

   Synonyms: disagreeable, undesired; see also Thesaurus:unpleasant

   1. Insufficient and less than expected of a good thing.

      Synonyms: dismal, paltry, wanting; see also Thesaurus:inadequate

      I worked here all summer and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.

   2. Remarkably bad; of poor quality.

      Synonyms: cruddy, miserable, shoddy; see also Thesaurus:low-quality

      No offense, but his cooking is lousy.

      • 2021 September 15, Unknown minister, Singapore Parliament debates on 15 September 2021‎^[1]:

        Must have been a lousy school.

   3. Dirty or untidy.

      Synonyms: messy, sluttish; grubby, squalid; see also Thesaurus:disorderly, Thesaurus:unclean

      I cleaned the lousy garage.

   4. Underhanded; mean; contemptible.

      Synonyms: deplorable, loathsome, sordid; see also Thesaurus:despicable

      I've had enough of lousy backstabbing at this place.

2. (colloquial) Unwell; under the weather.

   Synonyms: bad, poorly, sick; see also Thesaurus:ill

   I caught a cold and I've been feeling lousy all week.

3. Infested with lice.

   Synonym: licey

5. (colloquial, usually with with) Filled or packed (with something, usually bad).

   Synonyms: riddled, -ridden, inundated, jam-packed, teeming

   The place was lousy with students.

   • 1945, John Steinbeck, Cannery Row:

     The benignant influence crept like gas through the Row. […] And triangulation might possibly have located it in the Palace Flophouse and Grill. Certainly the Palace was lousy with it. Mack and the boys were charged. Jones was seen to leap from his chair only to do a quick tap dance and sit down again.

   • 2016, Rick Riordan, The Hammer of Thor, page 6:

     [I talked to] Annabeth about the Greek gods who hung out in New York and made her life difficult. Apparently North America was lousy with ancient gods. We had a full-blown infestation.

• Considered an offensive insult prior to World War II, implying filthiness. Now considered a mild or rather dated term.

• cootie, crab louse, crabs, louse, pubic louse
• licey (“infested with lice”)