1
: weak, ineffective
She can't rely on her feckless son.
2
: worthless, irresponsible
a feckless maneuver that could only serve to strengthen the enemy—
Simon Schama
Simon Schama
fecklessly
adverb
fecklessness
noun
Did you know?
A feckless person is lacking in feck. And what, you may ask, is feck? In Scots—our source of feckless—feck means "majority" or "effect." The term is ultimately an alteration of the Middle English effect. So something without feck is without effect, i.e., ineffective. In the past, feckful (meaning "efficient, effective," "sturdy," or "powerful") made an occasional appearance, but in this case, the weak has outlived the strong: feckless is a commonly used English word, but feckful has proven, well, feckless.
Examples of feckless in a Sentence
She can't rely on her feckless son.
a well-intentioned but feckless response to the rise in school violence
Recent Examples on the Web
Other governments won’t let the White House reduce them to feckless subordinates.
—Bloomberg Opinion, Twin Cities, 14 Feb. 2025
Meantime, a Congress paralyzed by mutual loathing, divided between feckless Republicans and clueless Democrats, looks on.
—Clive Crook, Twin Cities, 8 Feb. 2025
Tampa Bay is the NHL’s most prolific team on a per-game basis while the Ducks’ offense has been the league’s most feckless by virtually any measure, including its average output.
—Andrew Knoll, Orange County Register, 15 Jan. 2025
His feckless foreign policy initiatives have diminished respect for, and fear of, the U.S. throughout the world.
—A. J. Caschetta, National Review, 19 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for feckless
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Bloomberg Opinion, Twin Cities, 14 Feb. 2025
Meantime, a Congress paralyzed by mutual loathing, divided between feckless Republicans and clueless Democrats, looks on.
—Clive Crook, Twin Cities, 8 Feb. 2025
Tampa Bay is the NHL’s most prolific team on a per-game basis while the Ducks’ offense has been the league’s most feckless by virtually any measure, including its average output.
—Andrew Knoll, Orange County Register, 15 Jan. 2025
His feckless foreign policy initiatives have diminished respect for, and fear of, the U.S. throughout the world.
—A. J. Caschetta, National Review, 19 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for feckless
Cite this Entry
“Feckless.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/feckless. Accessed 10 Mar. 2025.
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