Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
adjective
- ineffective; incompetent; futile: feckless attempts to repair the plumbing.
- having no sense of responsibility; indifferent; lazy.
adjective
- feeble; weak; ineffectual; irresponsible
1590s, from feck, “effect, value, vigor” (late 15c.), Scottish shortened form of effect, + -less. Popularized by Carlyle, who left its opposite, feckful, in dialectal obscurity. Related: Fecklessly; fecklessness.