no-accountn.adj.
/ˌnəʊəˈkaʊnt/, U.S. /ˈnoʊəˌkaʊnt/ colloquial (originally U.S.).
A. n.
A person of no account or importance; an insignificant, worthless person.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > one who is unimportant
unknownc1390
pawnc1450
semi-cipher?1550
bauble1570
Jack with the feather1581
nobody1583
winterling1585
squash1600
rush candle1628
niflec1635
nullity1657
nonentity1710
featherweight1812
underscrub1822
nyaff1825
small fish1836
no-account1840
little fish1846
peanut1864
commonplacer1874
sparrow-fart1886
Little Willie1901
pipsqueak1905
nebbish1907
pie-biter1911
blob1916
smallie1930
no-count1932
zilch1933
Mickey Mouse1935
muzhik1945
nerd1951
nothingburger1953
nerk1955
non-person1959
no-mark1982
1840 Spirit of Times 21 Mar. 25/2 No-ac-counts, and all the rest of the invited part of heaven-created nobility, assembled at precisely six.
1896 ‘M. Twain’ in Harper's Mag. Sept. 523 Who ever had anything agin that poor trifling no-account?
1936 J. Dos Passos Big Money 169 The child of a no-account like Fred.
1970 W. Garner Puppet-masters xxx. 222 Why is a no-account like Lindsay collected from a police court by a Special Branch cop?
1992 D. Pinckney High Cotton v. 140 He..predicted that I would come to no good among the no-accounts.
B. adj.
Of no account, importance, value, or use; insignificant, worthless. Cf. no-count adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] > worthless
naughteOE
unworthc960
nought worthOE
unworthya1240
vaina1300
lewd1362
base?1510
to be nothing toc1520
stark naught1528
nothing worth1535
worthilessa1542
draffish1543
baggage1548
dunghill?1555
valureless1563
toyish1572
worthless1573
out (forth) of door (also doors)1574
leaden1577
riff-raff1577
drafty1582
fecklessc1586
dudgeon?1589
nought-worth1589
tenpenny1592
wanwordy?a1595
shotten herring1598
nugatory1603
unvalued1604
priceless1614
unvaluable1615
valuelessa1616
waste1616
trashya1620
draffy1624
stramineous1624
invaluable1640
roly-poly?1645
nugatorious1646
perquisquilian1647
niffling1649
lazy1671
wanworth1724
little wortha1754
flimsy1756
waff1788
null1790
nothingy1801
nothingly1802
twopenny-halfpenny1809
not worth a flaw1810
garbage1817
peanut1836
duffing1839
trash1843
no-account1845
no-count1851
punky1859
rummagy1872
junky1880
skilligalee1883
footle1894
punk1896
wherry-go-nimble1901
junk1908
rinky-dink1913
schlock1916
tripe1927
duff1938
chickenshit1940
sheg-up1941
expendable1942
(strictly) for the birds1943
tripey1955
schlocky1960
naff1964
dipshit1968
cack1978
1845 Spirit of Times 1 Feb. 583/2 I'll just tell you that the land I'm after is a d-d, little, no-account quarter section, that nobody would have but me.
1886 Pall Mall Gaz. 29 Sept. 4/1 We submit to be..treated as no-account people in all affairs of State.
1898 H. S. Canfield Maid of Frontier 109 It seems to me..that Charlie is gettin mighty no account.
1902 G. H. Lorimer Lett. Merchant vi. 69 A mailing-clerk so no-account as to be writing personal letters in office hours.
1936 ‘J. Tey’ Shilling for Candles vii. 71 We both felt no-account and were afraid people'd find it out.
1952 C. Day Lewis tr. Virgil Aeneid xi. 246 Are we, we no-account souls, to litter the plains?
2001 Underground Wine Jrnl. Sept. 96/3 You might be asked to pay $50 for a bottle of some no-account Cru Bourgeois plonk.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1840