shabby

shab·by

adjective \ˈsha-bē\

shab·bi·ershab·bi·est

Definition of SHABBY

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>

— shab·bi·ly \ˈsha-bə-lē\ adverb

— shab·bi·ness \ˈsha-bē-nəs\ noun

Examples of SHABBY

1. The furniture was old and shabby.
2. He wore a shabby coat.
3. Her first apartment was pretty shabby.
4. They complained about the shabby treatment they received at the hotel.
5. Backing out of the deal was a shabby thing to do.

Origin of SHABBY

obsolete English shab a low fellow

First Known Use: 1669

Related to SHABBY

Synonyms

beat-up, bombed-out, dilapidated, dog-eared, down-at-the-heels (or down-at-heel also down-at-the-heel or down-at-heels), dumpy, grungy, mangy, mean, miserable, moth-eaten, neglected, ratty, run-down, scrubby, scruffy, seedy, sleazy, tacky, tatterdemalion, tatty, threadbare, timeworn, tumbledown, gone to seed

Related Words

abandoned, uncared-for, unkept; desolate, forlorn, godforsaken; broken-down, decrepit, tired, worn-out; bedraggled, dingy, ragged, tattered; decaying, deteriorated, deteriorating, rackety, ramshackle, rattletrap, rickety, tumbledown; broken, damaged, destroyed, harmed, hurt, impaired, injured, ruined, wrecked

Near Antonyms

brand-new, fresh, new; cared-for, kept-up, maintained; mended, patched, rebuilt, reconstructed; smart, spiffy, spruce

Rhymes with SHABBY

abbey, blabby, cabbie, crabby, flabby, gabby, grabby, scabby, tabby, yabby