shit, adv. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

shit adv.

1. as an intensifier extremely, very, completely, certainly.

1945		J. Maclaren-Ross Swag, the Spy and the Soldier in Lehmann Penguin New Writing No. 26 49: I’m shit out, see? Ain’t got bugger all.
1967		P. Thomas Down These Mean Streets (1970) 254: No, you, amigo, you were shit in luck.
1970		D. Mitchell Thumb Tripping (1971) 139: Well you shit got pregnant every time we had some.
1972		C. Bukowski Erections, Ejaculations etc. 399: A gift from the heavens on a shit rainy day.
1980		Barltrop & Wolveridge Muvver Tongue 41: To have a piece of good fortune is to be ‘shit-lucky’.
1991		B. Stewart Broken Arse II i: No. Shit no. Hey sorry about that swearing.
1993		S. King Dolores Claiborne 113: ‘First you’re gonna promise me you’ll leave Selena alone,’ I said, ‘so we can put this shit-miserable business behind us.’.
1995		J. Cameron Vinnie Got Blown Away 74: Most cons are shit soft.
2002		R. Gordon Can’t Be Satisfied 259: ‘We didn't get paid nothing. Shit no’.
2018		‘Aidan Truhen’ Price You Pay 226: Shit strong coffee.

2. badly, unsuccessfully.

2018

I. Welsh Dead Man’s Trousers 10: — How’s that gaun? [...] — So-so, I admit, although shit would be better.

In compounds

shitpoor (adj.)

(US) mediocre, second-rate.

2003

A. Swofford Jarhead 200: I insult the U.S. Army and any pigfuck who would join such a shitpoor organization.

shitsure (adv.)

(US) certainly, definitely; also as adj., certain.

1956		W. Burroughs letter 29 Oct. in Harris (1993) 341: I will shit sure avail myself.
1959		W. Burroughs Naked Lunch (1968) 123: When his neck snaps, this character will shit-sure come to rhythmic attention.
1965		W. Eastlake Castle Keep (1966) 186: That’s shit sure.
1989		(con. 1960) P. Theroux My Secret Hist. (1990) 177: One thing’s for shit-sure [...] I ain’t going in no fucking army.

In phrases

shit out of luck (also ass out of luck, shit out)

(US) at the end of one’s good fortune, in serious trouble with no escape.

1932		in Randolph & Legman Ozark Folksongs and Folklore (1992) I 433: Too old to fuck, too proud to suck, / Just two rotten whoors, shit out of luck!
1934		‘J.M. Hall’ Anecdota Americana II 118: They break just the same, and / You’re shit out of luck.
1939		H. Miller Tropic of Capricorn (1964) 53: If you get tired of climbing you are shit out of luck.
1941–52		in G. Legman Limerick (1953) 236: The wife of an athlete named Chuck / Found her married life shit-out-of-luck.
1952		J. Jones From Here to Eternity (1998) 851: ‘Yeah,’ somebody hollered, ‘but what if they aint?’ ‘Then you’re shit out of luck,’ Warden said.
1961		(con. early 1950s) J. Peacock Valhalla 72: They’re shit out of luck.
1967		(con. 1950s) McAleer & Dickson Unit Pride (1981) 26: You’re shit outa luck.
1968		G. Slatter Pagan Game (1969) 158: He’s been a bit of a tin-bum [...] Not like me. I’m always shit out of luck.
1986		J. Ellroy Suicide Hill 7: [I]nstitutionalized bulls and cons who didn't know they'd be shit out of luck without each other.
1990		J. Healy Streets Above Us (1991) 87: He needs a seven to get out of jail. They land a six, shit out, no good.
1997–2002		Alt. Eng. Dict. 🌐 shit out of luck (preposition phrase?, idiom) really out of luck.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. 186: shit out of Missing something, maybe luck.
2003		A. Swofford Jarhead 78: ‘I don’t see any war on your chest. You were sucking dick over at the reserve center while I was ass out of luck in the Desert’.
2006		C. Carr Our Town 293: If you don’t have a Klagraff, you’re shit out of luck.
2011		R.F. Coleman ‘Requiem for Spider’ in Pulp Ink [ebook] If Yuri’s needs stretched much beyond patting people down he was shit out of luck with Dancing Bear.
2015		Baltimore Sun (MD) 22 Apr. T58/3: ‘If my neighbor can’t pay for it, she’s shit out of luck’.