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 of shabby

• 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 once grand building, where celebrities and socialites have slept, lived, and partied for decades, is undeniably shabby, with worn carpets and crumbling plumbing. — Kim Velsey, Curbed, 15 Oct. 2026

These shabby little movie houses, tucked away in the back alleys of Shinjuku, smelled of urine and stale tobacco. — Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026

Beck was playing a shabby, malnourished musician living in a shack who acts as an emissary of a weird celebrity cult. — Josephine Reisman, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2026

The developer that’s built luxury apartment complexes from Wilton and Cheshire to New Haven is proposing a 235-unit complex near New London’s waterfront that would create a complete makeover for what’s considered the shabbiest road in the city. — Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 16 Sep. 2026

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
• shabby chic

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