shabby

adjective

shab·by ˈsha-bē

shabbier; shabbiest

Synonyms of shabby next

: clothed with worn or seedy garments

a shabby hobo

: threadbare and faded from wear

a shabby sofa

: ill-kept : dilapidated

a shabby neighborhood

: mean, despicable, contemptible

must feel shabby … because of his compromises—

Nat Hentoff

: ungenerous, unfair

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

Paul Engle

: inferior in quality

shabby reasoning

shabbily

ˈsha-bə-lē

adverb

shabbiness

ˈsha-bē-nəs

noun

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 An elderly woman in a floral-print blouse and black pleated slacks walking a shabby gray schnauzer was walking toward us, just two strides from the galloping Sadé. —

Gary Gulman, Rolling Stone, 19 Sep. 2023 When the farmer takes his family to seek their fortune in the far country of his ancestors, the girl flees to her tutor’s shabby quarters. —

Boyd Tonkin, WSJ, 15 Sep. 2023 Not so shabby, eh? Purple’s adjustable bed base, pillows, sheets, and mattresses are on sale now through LDW. —

Malia Griggs, SELF, 1 Sep. 2023 Enshrouded in tropical plantings, the grounds aren’t too shabby, either. —

Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 7 Sep. 2023 Still, seven of eight Born to Run songs isn’t too shabby. —

Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 4 Sep. 2023 That's still not shabby compared with 2019, and the layoff readings suggest that the labor market might continue cooling without getting uncomfortably cold, as Heard's Justin Lahart explains. —

WSJ, 29 Aug. 2023 That's not too shabby and a vast improvement over the start of the month when their offense dropped off a cliff when Riley Greene was hurt. —

Andrew Birkle, Detroit Free Press, 20 June 2023 Your Gulf region competitors and airports regularly rank among the best in the world, well above those of Western countries where many airports are shabby, and airlines get lower scores for customer experience. —

Phil Wahba, Fortune, 22 Aug. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'shabby.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.