shabby

adjective

shab·​by ˈsha-bē 

shabbier; shabbiest

1

: clothed with worn or seedy garments

a shabby hobo

2

a

: threadbare and faded from wear

a shabby sofa

b

: ill-kept : dilapidated

a shabby neighborhood

3

a

: mean, despicable, contemptible

must feel shabby … because of his compromises

—Nat Hentoff

b

: ungenerous, unfair

laments the shabby way in which this country often treated a poet

—Paul Engle

c

: inferior in quality

shabby reasoning

shabbily

ˈsha-bə-lē 

adverb

shabbiness

ˈsha-bē-nəs 

noun

Synonyms

• dilapidated
• neglected

Examples of shabby in a Sentence

The furniture was old and shabby.

He wore a shabby coat.

Her first apartment was pretty shabby.

They complained about the shabby treatment they received at the hotel.

Backing out of the deal was a shabby thing to do.

Recent Examples on the Web

The micro-budget production, which follows a paranoid mathematician searching for order in the chaos of numbers, established Aronofsky as a filmmaker eager to push his vision of the city as at once shabby and gorgeous. —David Sims, The Atlantic, 29 Aug. 2025

Adding Parsons to that group at a spot in need of better doesn’t sound too shabby. —Matt Schneidman, New York Times, 29 Aug. 2025

Not that Cannes’ lineup was all that shabby. —Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 27 Aug. 2025

Your throw pillows may come out smelling clean and fresh, but looking a lot shabbier. —Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 18 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

obsolete English shab a low fellow

First Known Use

1669, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing shabby

• not (too) shabby

Rhymes for shabby

• abbe
• cabbie
• cabby
• flabby
• gabby
• gaby
• scabby
• tabby

Kids Definition

shabby

adjective

shab·​by ˈshab-ē 

shabbier; shabbiest

1

: dressed in worn clothes

2

a

: worn and faded from wear

a shabby sofa

b

: ill kept : dilapidated

shabby houses

3

: not fair or generous

shabby treatment

shabbily

ˈshab-ə-lē 

adverb

shabbiness

ˈshab-ē-nəs 

noun