English

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.
   • Barrow

     a lame endeavour

   • Shakespeare

     O, most lame and impotent conclusion!

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.

6. (slang) Strangely corny or sweet to an extent.

   I told him not to bring me flowers, so he brought a bunch of carrots instead. It was lame but it made me smile.

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

Translations

Verb

lame ‎(third-person singular simple present lames, present participle laming, simple past and past participle lamed)

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

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

lame ‎(third-person singular simple present lames, present participle laming, simple past and past participle lamed)

1. (obsolete) To shine.

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

References

1. ↑ Pokorny 2365.

Anagrams

• amel, Elam, Elma, leam, lema, male, Malé, meal

Estonian

Adjective

lame ‎(genitive [please provide], partitive [please provide])

1. flat

French

Etymology

From Latin lamina, possibly through the diminutive intermediate lamella.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lam/
• 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

Anagrams

• mâle, mêla

Friulian

Etymology

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

Noun

lame f ‎(plural lamis)

1. blade

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.

Italian

Noun

lame f

1. plural of lama

Anagrams

• alme, male, mela

Old French

Noun

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

1. blade (of a weapon)

Spanish

Verb

lame

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

   ¡Lame mi culo! — “Lick my ****!”

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.”

Swedish

Adjective

lame

1. absolute definite natural masculine form of lam.