"useless, valueless," 1908, from phrase no good "good for nothing." As a noun, recorded by 1924; the variant no-goodnik (see -nik) is attested by 1959.
Entries linking to no-good
-nik
as in beatnik, etc., suffix used in word formation from c. 1945, from Yiddish -nik (as in nudnik "a bore"), from Russian -nik, common personal suffix meaning "person or thing associated with or involved in" (compare nudnik; kolkhoznik "member of a kolkhoz"). Rocketed to popularity with sputnik (q.v.), hence its brief vogue in English word-formation, as in robotnik "person behaving with mindless obedience" (1960).