shabby
impaired by wear, use, etc.; worn: shabby clothes.
showing conspicuous signs of wear or neglect: The rooms on the upper floors of the mansion had a rather shabby appearance, as if they had not been much in use of late.
wearing worn clothes or having a slovenly or unkempt appearance: a shabby person.
run-down, seedy, or dilapidated: a shabby hotel.
meanly ungenerous or unfair; contemptible, as persons, actions, etc.: shabby behavior.
inferior; not up to par in quality, performance, etc.: a shabby rendition of the sonata.
Origin of shabby
1Other words from shabby
- shab·bi·ly, adverb
- shab·bi·ness, noun
- un·shab·bi·ly, adverb
- un·shab·by, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use shabby in a sentence
She thought it would be treating it too shabbily to throw it aside among the love-sick trash she was in the habit of receiving.
Ruth Hall | Fanny FernOn the street he met many individuals most shabbily clad, who offered him fifty louis in gold for twelve sous.
Brother Jacques (Novels of Paul de Kock, Volume XVII) | Charles Paul de KockHe was a working man shabbily clothed, and wearing a dingy brown ulster and slouch hat.
Christopher and the Clockmakers | Sara Ware BassettA little mean-looking man, shabbily dressed in something of the same costume, trotted humbly along on the off-side.
Shabbily dressed men, with exaltation in their faces, and women of all ages and types, uniform only in their costumes.
The Incendiary | W. A. (William Augustine) Leahy
British Dictionary definitions for shabby
/ (ˈʃæbɪ) /
threadbare or dilapidated in appearance
wearing worn and dirty clothes; seedy
mean, despicable, or unworthy: shabby treatment
dirty or squalid
Origin of shabby
1Derived forms of shabby
- shabbily, adverb
- shabbiness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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