Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (orig. US teen) a weakling, someone who cannot be depended on.

1976		Eble Campus Sl. Nov. 6: unsatisfactory in some way: Come on you wuss [...] John’s a wuss; John wussed out again.
1982		Eble Campus Sl. Spring 9: wuss – baby, sissy [...] wuss bag – wimpy person.
1984		Eble Campus Sl. Sept. 7: wassettes – female wuss, or loser.
1989		Atlanta Journal/Constitution 7 Nov. D-2/1: Before you accuse me of being some kind of sherry-sipping, ascot-wearing, ballet-attending [...] wussy, please note that I am a sports guy myself, having had a legendary athletic career.
1999		Guardian Weekend 5 June 67: Mum, you need a personality makeover. You’ve been a wuss for long enough.
1999		Observer Mag. 13 June 34: The Beatles were all wussies.
1999		R.G. Barrett Wind & Monkey (2013) [ebook] ‘Sorry Digger, I didn’t mean to be such a wooz’.
2000		T. Fontana ‘Gray Matter’ Oz ser. 4 ep. 5 [TV script] He just lies in his bunk, sobbing like a wuss.
2005		P. Temple Broken Shore (2007) [ebook] Course, in my day, a report like this, they’d say put the wuss on traffic.
2007		T. Dorsey Hurricane Punch 8: Come out here, you wuss!
2012		C. Stella Rough Riders 77: ‘This coming from a man who drinks milk with his dinner.’ ‘We had him figured him for a bit of a wuss’.
2020		A. Trebek The Answer Is 257: I’m a goddamn wuss. I start to cry for no reason at all.

2. attrib. use of sense 1.

1977

Ithacan 24 Feb. 13/1: A group of athletically-inclined might polish off a half in thirty minutes, while a wuss convention will take all night to dent a quarter.