‘lousy’ doesn’t mean ‘loud’

Though most speakers of English know this is a negative word, it is often mistaken for ‘loud’ or ‘noisy’.

Lousy, an adjective, actually means ‘very bad’, ‘unpleasant’, ‘very poor’, ‘of bad quality’.

Examples:

  1. He gave me a lousy book that made no sense.
  2. I had a lousy weekend.
  3. She is such a lousy girl and nobody wants to associate with her.

Meanwhile, other words that are close to talking loud include:

  1. loudmouth (noun): someone who talks too much or too loud.
  2. stentorian (adjective): using a very loud voice.
  3. shouty (adjective): getting angry easily and shouting a lot.
  4. bawl (adjective): to shout in a very loud voice.
  5. clamorous (adjective): making a lot of noise, making loud complaints/demands.

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