lame

See also: lamé and lamè

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /leɪm/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪm

• Rhymes: -eɪm
• Hyphenation: lame

Etymology 1

From Middle English lame, from Old English lama (“lame”), from Proto-Germanic *lamaz (“lame”), from Proto-Indo-European *lem- (“to crush; fragile”). Akin to German lahm and Dutch lam, Old Norse lami, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian lam, akin to Old Church Slavonic ломити (lomiti, “to break”).

Adjective

lame (comparative lamer, superlative lamest)

1. Unable to walk properly because of a problem with one's feet or legs.
2. Moving with pain or difficulty on account of injury, defect or temporary obstruction of a function.

   a lame leg, arm or muscle

3. (by extension) Hobbling; limping; inefficient; imperfect.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Barrow

     a lame endeavour

   • c. 1603 William Shakespeare, Othello, Act II scene i^[1]:

     O, most lame and impotent conclusion! […]

   • 1801, Isaac Watts, The improvement of the mind, or A supplement to the art of logic:

     It is the remark of an ingenious writer, should a barbarous Indian, who had never seen a palace or a ship, view their separate and disjointed parts, and observe the pillars, doors, windows, cornices and turrets of the one, or the prow and stern, the ribs and masts, the ropes and shrouds, the sails and tackle of the other, he would be able to form but a very lame and dark idea of either of those excellent and useful inventions.

4. (slang) Unconvincing or unbelievable.

   (He had a really lame excuse for missing the birthday party.)

5. (slang) Failing to be cool, funny, interesting or relevant.

   (He kept telling these extremely lame jokes all night.)

Usage notes

Referring to a person without a disability as “lame” is offensive to many as it suggests a derogatory characterization of the physical condition from which the term was derived.

Synonyms

• (unable to walk properly because of a problem with one's feet or legs): crippled
• (moving with difficulty):
• (by extension, hobbling): hobbling, limping, inefficient, imperfect
• (slang, unconvincing): weak, unbelievable
• (slang, failing to be cool, funny, interesting, or relevant): boring, pathetic, uncool, unfunny, uninteresting, irrelevant

Antonyms

• (unable to walk properly because of a problem with one's feet or legs):
• (moving with difficulty):
• (by extension, hobbling): efficient, perfect
• (slang, unconvincing): convincing, believable
• (slang, failing to be cool, funny, interesting, or relevant): cool, funny, interesting, relevant

Derived terms

Derived terms

• lamage
• lamebrain
• lame duck
• lamely

• lameness
• lame-o
• lamestream

Translations

unable to walk properly because of a problem with one's feet or legs

• Arabic: أَعْرَج (ʔaʕraj), أَكْسَح (ʔaksaḥ)

  Egyptian Arabic: أعرج (aʿrag)

• Aragonese: coixo
• Armenian: կաղ (hy) (kaġ)
• Aromanian: shcljop
• Bashkir: аҡһаҡ (aqhaq), сатан (satan)
• Belarusian: кульга́вы (kulʹhávy)
• Bulgarian: куц (bg) (kuc)
• Catalan: coix (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 瘸腿 (zh) (quétuǐ), 跛 (zh) (bǒ), 跛足 (zh) (bǒzú), 瘸 (zh) (qué)

• Czech: chromý (cs) m
• Dalmatian: zuap
• Danish: lam (da)
• Dutch: lam (nl), verlamd (nl), kreupel (nl), mank (nl)
• Esperanto: lama (eo), kripla (eo)
• Finnish: rampa (fi)
• French: boiteux (fr) m, boiteuse (fr) f
• Friulian: çuet
• Galician: coxo (gl), rengo
• Georgian: კოჭლი (ḳoč̣li)
• German: lahm (de)
• Greek: χωλός (el) m (cholós), κουτσός (el) m (koutsós)

  Ancient: χωλός (khōlós)

• Hebrew: צוֹלֵעַ (he) m (tzoléa')
• Hungarian: sánta (hu)
• Irish: bacach (ga)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: zoppo (it)
• Japanese: 足の不自由な (あしのふじゆうな, ashi-no fujiyū-na), 足の悪い (あしのわるい, ashi-no warui)
• Latin: claudus
• Lithuanian: luošas m, šlubas m
• Luxembourgish: schlamm
• Macedonian: куц (kuc)
• Maori: tahakopa, hauā, waehauā, tūparaka
• Neapolitan: sciancato
• Persian: لنگ (fa) (lang)
• Polish: kulawy (pl), kulejący
• Portuguese: manco (pt), perneta (pt), coxo (pt) (Brasil), capenga (pt) (Brasil)
• Quechua: hank'a, sucu, magro, wist'u
• Romanian: șchiop (ro) m, olog (ro) m
• Russian: хромо́й (ru) (xromój), хрома́ющий (ru) (xromájuščij)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: хром

  Roman: hrom (sh)

• Slovak: chromý (sk)
• Spanish: cojo (es), rengo (es) (Argentina, Uruguay)
• Swedish: lam (sv)
• Telugu: కుంటి (te) (kuṇṭi)
• Turkish: topal (tr)
• Ukrainian: кульга́вий (kulʹhávyj)
• Venetian: cionpo, soto (vec), zhot, çoto
• West Frisian: mank

moving with difficulty

• Arabic: أَعْرَج m (ʔaʕraj)
• Dutch: kreupel (nl), mankend (nl)
• Finnish: heikko (fi), rampa (fi)
• Greek: χωλός (el) m (cholós), κουτσός (el) m (koutsós)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: nyomorék (hu), béna (hu)
• Portuguese: manco (pt)
• Romanian: handicapat (ro) m, schiopatand
• Russian: искале́ченный (ru) (iskaléčennyj), уве́чный (ru) (uvéčnyj)

by extension, hobbling

• Bulgarian: куц (bg) (kuc)
• Dutch: wankel (nl), mankend (nl)
• Finnish: ontuva (fi), heikko (fi)
• Hungarian: sántikáló
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Maori: totitoti
• Portuguese: capenga (pt)
• Russian: хрома́ющий (ru) (xromájuščij)

slang: unconvincing

• Bulgarian: неубедителен (bg) (neubeditelen)
• Czech: chabý m
• Dutch: flauw (nl)
• Finnish: heikko (fi), huono (fi), tyhmä (fi), ontuva (fi)
• French: boîteux (fr), pitoyable (fr), nul (fr) m, bancal (fr) m, bateau (fr)
• Greek: αστήρικτος (el) m (astíriktos), αστείος (el) m (asteíos)
• Hungarian: átlátszó (hu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Polish: słaby (pl), kiepski (pl) m
• Portuguese: fraco (pt), capenga (pt)
• Romanian: jalnic (ro) m, slab (ro) m, lipsit de gust m
• Russian: сла́бый (ru) (slábyj), неубеди́тельный (ru) (neubedítelʹnyj)
• Spanish: cojo (es) m

slang: failing to be cool, funny, interesting or relevant

• Bulgarian: скучен (bg) (skučen), безинтересен (bg) (bezinteresen)
• Catalan: sonso (ca)
• Danish: lamt
• Dutch: flauw (nl)
• Estonian: nõme
• Finnish: typerä (fi), tyhmä (fi), ontuva (fi)
• French: nul (fr), (slang, France) naze (fr) m or f, (Quebec, informal) poche (fr), ringard (fr) m
• Georgian: ბანძი (banʒi)
• German: ätzend (de), öde (de)
• Hebrew: צוֹלֵעַ (he) m (tzoléa')
• Hungarian: béna (hu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: patetico (it), stupido (it)
• Japanese: ださださ (dasadasa), 寒い (ja) (samui)
• Polish: kiepski (pl) m
• Portuguese: palha (pt) (Brazil), sem graça, chato (pt)
• Romanian: anost (ro) m, plictisitor (ro) m, sters m
• Russian: беспонто́вый (ru) m (bespontóvyj), отсто́йный (ru) m (otstójnyj)
• Spanish: (Mexico) chafa (es), soso (es)
• Swedish: lam (sv)
• Turkish: geyik (tr)
• Westrobothnian:

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Albanian: ^{(please verify)} çalë (sq)
• Catalan: ^{(please verify)} coix (ca)
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} paralizata
• French: ^{(please verify)} boiteux (fr), ^{(please verify)} nul (fr), ^{(please verify)} minable (fr)
• German: (2) ^{(please verify)} lahm (de)
• Hindi: ^{(please verify)} अपंग (hi) (apaṅg)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} storpio (it)
• Marathi: ^{(please verify)} अपंग (mr) (apaṅga)
• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} șchiop (ro), ^{(please verify)} olog (ro)
• Sanskrit: ^{(please verify)} अपङगः (apaṅagaḥ), ^{(please verify)} पङगु (paṅagu)
• Scottish Gaelic: ^{(please verify)} bacach, ^{(please verify)} crùbach, ^{(please verify)} cuagach
• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} hrom (sh)

Verb

1. (transitive) To cause (a person or animal) to become lame.
   • 1877, Anna Sewell, Black Beauty: And if you don't want to lame your horse you must look sharp and get them [stones stuck in hooves] out quickly.
   • 1913, D.H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, chapter 6

     Now her soul felt lamed in itself. It was her hope that was struck.

Translations

to cause a person or animal to become lame

• Bulgarian: осакатявам (bg) (osakatjavam)
• Finnish: lamauttaa (fi) (temporarily); rampauttaa (indefinitely)
• Italian: azzoppare (it)
• Polish: okulawić
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Portuguese: deixar manco
• Russian: калечить (ru) (kalečitʹ), увечить (ru) (uvečitʹ)

Noun

lame (plural lames)

1. (prison slang) A stupid or undesirable person.

Etymology 2

From Middle French lame, from Latin lamina.

Noun

lame (plural lames)

1. A lamina.
2. (in the plural) A set of joined overlapping metal plates.

Related terms

• lamé

Etymology 3

Verb

1. (obsolete) To shine.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Piers Plowman to this entry?)

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “lame”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Anagrams

• -meal, Elam, Elma, Lema, Malé, alme, amel, leam, lema, male, meal, mela, mela-

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Esperanto

Adverb

lame

1. lamely

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Estonian

Etymology

From lamama +‎ -e.

Adjective

lame (genitive lameda, partitive lamedat, comparative lamedam, superlative kõige lamedam)

1. flat

Declension

Declension of lame (ÕS type 2/õpik, no gradation)
		singular	plural
nominative		lame	lamedad
accusative	nom.
	gen.	lameda
genitive			lamedate
partitive		lamedat	lamedaid
illative		lamedasse	lamedatesse lamedaisse
inessive		lamedas	lamedates lamedais
elative		lamedast	lamedatest lamedaist
allative		lamedale	lamedatele lamedaile
adessive		lamedal	lamedatel lamedail
ablative		lamedalt	lamedatelt lamedailt
translative		lamedaks	lamedateks lamedaiks
terminative		lamedani	lamedateni
essive		lamedana	lamedatena
abessive		lamedata	lamedateta
comitative		lamedaga	lamedatega

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French

Etymology

Inherited from Latin lāmina, through the accusative lāminam. Doublet of lamine, a borrowing.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lam/

• Audio (Canada, Montréal)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -am
• Homophone: lames

Noun

lame f (plural lames)

1. lamina
2. blade
3. wave

Related terms

• lamé m
• lamer
• lamellaire
• lamelle
• laminer
• lamineur m

Descendants

• → Italian: lama

Further reading

• “lame”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• mâle, mêla

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Friulian

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin lamina. Compare Romansch loma, lama, French lame, Italian and Venetian lama.

Noun

lame f (plural lamis)

1. blade

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German

Etymology

From the English adjective lame.

Adjective

lame

1. (slang) boring; unimpressive
2. (slang) unskilled; useless

   Ich wollte nicht sagen, dass das was die machen total lame ist.

   I didn’t want to say that what they are doing is totally lame.

Further reading

• “lame” in Duden online

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Interlingue

Noun

1. blade

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Italian

Noun

lame f

1. plural of lama

Anagrams

• alme, male, mela

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Mauritian Creole

Etymology

From French main.

Pronunciation

• IPA: [lame]

Noun

lame

1. hand

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Old French

Noun

lame oblique singular, f (oblique plural lames, nominative singular lame, nominative plural lames)

1. blade (of a weapon)

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Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlame/ [ˈla.me]

Verb

lame

1. Informal second-person singular (tú) affirmative imperative form of lamer.

   ¡Lame mi culo! — “Lick my asshole!”

2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present indicative form of lamer.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present indicative form of lamer.

   Lame. — “[He/she/it] licks.”

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Swedish

Adjective

lame

1. (deprecated template usage) definite natural masculine singular of lam