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
These are the shabby, vertiginous streets that Nobel Laureate author Orhan Pamuk eulogized in The Museum of Innocence, set in the 1970s, and until very recently the district had scarcely changed at all.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 June 2026
Not a shabby situation down there in Texas.
—Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 29 May 2026
The result is a compassionate, elegant, unsettling book about some extremely shabby people.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 26 May 2026
Homeowners may wonder why another large group — the many city and county residents who love Balboa Park — arguably benefited the most from the leverage Aguirre and Severson had on the city in their lawsuit exposing its shabby and legally dubious trash practices.
—U T Editorial Board, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for shabby
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Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 June 2026
Not a shabby situation down there in Texas.
—Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 29 May 2026
The result is a compassionate, elegant, unsettling book about some extremely shabby people.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 26 May 2026
Homeowners may wonder why another large group — the many city and county residents who love Balboa Park — arguably benefited the most from the leverage Aguirre and Severson had on the city in their lawsuit exposing its shabby and legally dubious trash practices.
—U T Editorial Board, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for shabby
Cite this Entry
“Shabby.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shabby. Accessed 4 Jun. 2026.
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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