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wuss

noun
/wʊs/

Etymology

1976–1981 in US college slang. Perhaps abbreviated from wussy, or blend of wimp and puss. Compare earlier wussy.

Definitions

  1. A weak, ineffectual, cowardly, or timid person.

    • 1976, Univ. N. Carolina, Chapel Hill, Campus Slang typescript Nov. 6 Come on you wuss, hit a basket..! John's a wuss.
    • You are a wuss: part wimp, and part pussy
    • ...if you got a reputation as a wuss around the league, nobody else would ever even trade for you, or pick you up if you got cut.

  2. Only used in wuss out

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for wuss. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA