tatterdemalion
Use Tatterdemalion in a sentence
ər noun
1.
a person in tattered clothing; a shabby person.
adjective
2.
ragged; unkempt or dilapidated.
Origin:
1600–10; first written tatter-de-mallian and rhymed with Italian; see tatter1; -de-mallian < ?
1600–10; first written tatter-de-mallian and rhymed with Italian; see tatter1; -de-mallian < ?
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To tatterdemalion
Collins
World English Dictionary
tatterdemalion (ˌtætədɪˈmeɪljən, -ˈmæl-) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| rare | |
| a. a person dressed in ragged clothes | |
| b. (as modifier): a tatterdemalion dress | |
| [C17: from | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
00:10
Tatterdemalion
is always a great word to know.
So is callithumpian. Does it mean:
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
tatterdemalion
"ragged child, person dressed in old clothes," 1608, probably from tatter, with fantastic second element, but perhaps also suggested by Tartar, with a contemporary sense of "vagabond, gypsy."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
The tatterdemalion group possesses no home but that of the daily grazing land of the flock.
They were a tatterdemalion lot of soldiers and no mistake.
Rumor is an evanescent and mendacious tatterdemalion.
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