Lorel

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic term for a worthless, idle good-for-nothing person who is of little use to anyone
2. A scornful old word for a lazy, shiftless scoundrel with no real value or merit
3. Describing an old-fashioned rascal or wastrel, a person regarded as worthless and good for nothing

Etymology: "Lorel" is a Middle English noun meaning a worthless, good-for-nothing person, and it was formed from the verb "lose" with the suffix "-le" attached. The suffix is the same one found in words like "wrestle" and "spindle," and it often marks a repeated or habitual action, so the sense is roughly someone who keeps losing or wasting things. Here the "lose" in question is not the modern verb meaning to misplace something, but the older sense of "to perish, be ruined, or come to nothing." Over time, the word moved from a general idea of ruin toward a moral judgment. A lorel became a worthless wretch, someone idle, dissolute, or of no account. The related form "losel" appears alongside it in Middle English, and the two were used for the same kind of person. The word belongs to a family of English terms describing the failed or ruined man, which is why it sounds so close in spirit to its root.

Synonyms: wretch, scoundrel, rascal