loosey-goosey

See also: loosey goosey

English

Alternative forms

Adjective

loosey-goosey (comparative more loosey-goosey or loosier-goosier or loosey-goosier, superlative most loosey-goosey or loosiest-goosiest or loosey-goosiest)

  1. (sports, originally baseball, Canada, US) relaxed [from 1940s]
    • 1946 July 8, “By Jim Coleman”, in The Globe and Mail:
      They said that he couldn't hit International League pitching because he was too loosey-goosey at the plate.
    • 1955, Trent Frayne, “Why Big-League Goalies CRACK Up”, in Maclean's‎, archived from the original on 9 April 2022:
      “All these other guys are scared to death,” the pinch-hitter kept telling himself as he walked towards the plate, “I’m loosey-goosey, I’m loosey-goosey, I’m loosey-goosey.”
  2. (by extension, informal) laid back; disorganized; scattered
    • 1991, Richard Perez-Pena, “Investment Manager Faces Charges of Securities Fraud”, in The New York Times‎:
      "Everything seemed to be real loosey-goosey," Mr. Williams said. " […] I had lunch with him three times, and each time he said, 'Oh, I forgot to bring the papers.'"
    • 2004, Denis Wood, Five Billion Years of Global Change:
      I find the description wonderfully familiar, less the droogish quality, than the loosey-goosey opportunism.
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.