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
Nat Hentoff
b
: ungenerous, unfair
laments the shabby way in which this country often treated a poet—Paul Engle
Paul Engle
c
: inferior in quality
shabby reasoning
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
In one final indignity, McDermott was removed from a tournament clubhouse for wearing shabby clothing.
—Tim Corlett, Forbes.com, 9 June 2025
His production fell to 21 goals and 56 points this season, but that’s not too shabby considering how anemic the Predators were offensively this year.
—Harman Dayal, New York Times, 30 May 2025
Designed for 3-D, parts of the crash plant the viewer smack in the middle of Death’s brutal rampage, but the digital effects are often shabby and unconvincing.
—Gayle Sequeira, Vulture, 16 May 2025
The president’s own obvious aged infirmity was what ultimately caused Democrats to force him out of the 2024 race, but his son’s many years of shabby buckraking, both in active addiction and recovery, helped destroy Joe Biden’s image as a straight shooter.
—Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 13 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for shabby
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Tim Corlett, Forbes.com, 9 June 2025
His production fell to 21 goals and 56 points this season, but that’s not too shabby considering how anemic the Predators were offensively this year.
—Harman Dayal, New York Times, 30 May 2025
Designed for 3-D, parts of the crash plant the viewer smack in the middle of Death’s brutal rampage, but the digital effects are often shabby and unconvincing.
—Gayle Sequeira, Vulture, 16 May 2025
The president’s own obvious aged infirmity was what ultimately caused Democrats to force him out of the 2024 race, but his son’s many years of shabby buckraking, both in active addiction and recovery, helped destroy Joe Biden’s image as a straight shooter.
—Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 13 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for shabby
Cite this Entry
“Shabby.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shabby. Accessed 16 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids 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
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