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threadbare

 - 2 dictionary results

thread⋅bare

  [thred-bair]
Use threadbare in a Sentence
–adjective
1. having the nap worn off so as to lay bare the threads of the warp and woof, as a fabric, garment, etc.
2. wearing threadbare clothes; shabby or poor: a threadbare old man.
3. meager, scanty, or poor: a threadbare emotional life.
4. hackneyed; trite; ineffectively stale: threadbare arguments.
Origin:
1325–75; ME thredbare. See thread, bare 1

Related forms:
threadbareness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To threadbare
thread·bare   (thrěd'bâr')   
adj.  

  1. Having the nap worn down so that the filling or warp threads show through; frayed or shabby: threadbare rugs.

  2. Wearing old, shabby clothing.

  3. Overused to the point of being worn out; hackneyed: threadbare excuses.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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