feckless
adjUS, UK /ˈfɛkləs/
Etymology From Scots feckless, variant of Scots fectless (“ineffectual”) (an aphetic variant of effectless), equivalent to effect + -less.
1
Lacking purpose.
- It is the beauty of great games when they are played at their highest level and the extraordinary thing now is that we do not have to trawl back through all the years of your inexorable progress from feckless beach boy to master sportsman.2005 September 10, Canberra Times:
2
Without skill, ineffective, incompetent.
- This was the West Lancashire Railway, an ambitious but feckless little concern which, in a life lasting a quarter of a century, never earned a dividend, failed to keep up its debenture payments (despite a dangerous attempt to do so by issuing more debentures) and ended up in the hands of a receiver.1960 March 23, M. D. Greville and G. O. Holt, “Railway Development in Preston—2”, in Railway Magazine, page 201:
- “Lana, when I want you to talk, I will tell you. And until then, zip it.” “Wha-- what did I do?” “Nothing.” “Yeah, Lana.” “Which is why these feckless idiots lost 200 kilos of cocaine.” “Yeah, Lan-- oh. OK. Technically. But then we stole a plane loaded with, like, twice as much cocaine.” “Is this the part where you tell me to look under my seat?”2014 March 24, Adam Reed, “On the Carpet” (4:14 from the start), in Archer, season 5, episode 9, spoken by Malory Archer (Jessica Walter):
1 more example
- Across the country, Democratic voters who have been reeling from Mr. Trump’s sweeping and possibly illegal cuts to government, his head-spinning policy moves, and his politicization of federal law enforcement are growing more and more incensed at their own party’s seemingly feckless response.2025 March 20, Cameron Joseph, “Panicked Democratic voters are turning on their own leaders”, in The Christian Science Monitor, archived from the original on 30 Mar 2025:
3
Lacking the courage to act in any meaningful way.
- China is “proving to be a feckless friend for its authoritarian allies,” Nicholas Burns, the U.S. ambassador to China under President Joe Biden, wrote on X.2026 March 6, Charlie Campbell, quoting Nicholas Burns, “The Iran War Has Distracted and Depleted the U.S. Military. But It May Also Have Saved Taiwan”, in Time, archived from the original on 06 Mar 2026, World:
- Synonyms
- futile, hopeless, ineffective, ineffectual, feeble, meaningless, useless, unpurposed, worthless, aimless, careless, reckless, irresponsible
- Antonyms
- effective, efficient, meaningful, useful, purposeful, careful, responsible
- Related terms
- fecklessly, fecklessness