upteradj.
/ˈʌptə/, U.S. /ˈəptər/, Australian English /ˈʌptə/ Australian slang.
In predicative use: bad or worthless; no good.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > worthlessness > [adjective]
forcouthc888
goodlesseOE
undoughtya1225
voidc1380
bare1399
stark naught1528
worthilessa1542
queer1567
worthless1573
hilding1577
baggage1580
arrant1581
offal1588
lorel1590
losel1601
ragamuffin1602
loselled1606
loselly1611
valuelessa1616
ragamuffa1626
good-for-nothing1706
ne'er-do-well1773
rotten1813
neat1824
scamping1832
good-for-naught1835
no good1838
scampish1847
ne'er-do-wellish1890
no good1904
upter1919
never-do-well1933
1919 W. H. Downing Digger Dial. 52 Up to putty, bad; useless; ineffectual. Upter, a corruption of ‘up to putty’.
1949 J. Cleary You can't see round Corners xxvi. 169 ‘How are you going?’ ‘Upta. I've lost on every race so far.’
1953 ‘Caddie’ Sydney Barmaid xxxviii. 219 Dadda made some derogatory remark about the tucker. ‘If it's upter why don't you 'ave a go?’
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.1919