Today's Word "Feckless"
Published in Vocabulary
feckless \FEK-lis\ (adjective) - Lacking in feck, i.e. weak, ineffective, lacking vigor, energy.
"Daryl's active, single lifestyle left him little time for adequate sleep, leaving him feckless and lethargic at work."
"Feck" is an aphetic form of "effect" that arose in Scotland. ("Aphesis" is the dropping of an initial unaccented vowel.) It probably arose from a confusion of where to draw the line in the phrase [theffect], as "the effect" is commonly pronounced. Although "feckless" is often treated as an orphan negative, it in fact belongs to a complete family of derivations. The basic noun is feck "vigor, power, control of oneself," the adjective is feckful "vigorous, powerful, effective," and the adverb is "feckfully." All are still found in the Oxford English Dictionary, and hence are available for use by those with the feck to do so.
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