shoddy

noun

shod·dy | \ ˈshä-dē

Definition of shoddy

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : a reclaimed wool from materials that are not felted that is of better quality and longer staple than mungo

b : a fabric often of inferior quality manufactured wholly or partly from reclaimed wool

2a : inferior, imitative, or pretentious articles or matter

b : pretentious vulgarity

shoddy

adjective

shoddier; shoddiest

Definition of shoddy (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : made wholly or partly of shoddy

2a : cheaply imitative : vulgarly pretentious shoddy merchandise

b : hastily or poorly done : inferior shoddy workmanship

c : shabby, disreputable shoddy business deals

Other Words from shoddy Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about shoddy

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Examples of shoddy in a Sentence

Adjective

They gave a shoddy performance. shoddy merchandise that soon fell to pieces

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Recycled pop bottles are made into carpets and seat linings, and cotton shoddy—used to make blue jeans—is recycled and turned into sound insulation. — Katherine Lagrave, Condé Nast Traveler, "What the Road Trip Looks Like in 2030," 20 July 2018 That never quite offset his shoddy blocking, unfortunately, which cost him playing time last season. — Andy Benoit, SI.com, "True NFL Draft Grades: 2014 Draft, Four Years Later," 8 May 2018 Coby Fleener is too unreliable as a receiver to offset his shoddy blocking. — Andy Benoit, SI.com, "NFL Draft Needs: All 32 Teams," 25 Apr. 2018 Only traditional organic feeds such as the shoddy are allowed — Craig Ballinger, Slate Magazine, "The Dark State of British Rhubarb," 20 Mar. 2017 In her motion for exoneration, filed in Wyandotte County District Court in June 2016, Pilate laid out a story of false arrest, conviction and imprisonment involving a shoddy and corrupted police investigation as well as prosecutorial misconduct. — Eric Adler, kansascity.com, "Falsely imprisoned for 23 years? Court to hear evidence on freeing Lamonte McIntyre," 26 Apr. 2017

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

The tariffs also inflicted shoddy and needlessly expensive products on Indian consumers. — Sadanand Dhume, WSJ, "Modi Abandons Reform for Populist Nostrums," 23 Aug. 2018 Again, there is no shortage of shoddy, hyped or inaccurate journalism for President Trump to challenge. — Howard Kurtz, Fox News, "Crossing a line? Trump wants heads of CNN, NBC News fired," 31 Aug. 2018 But now that shoddy national perception has bled over to the hardwood as well. — Matt Calkins, The Seattle Times, "Unranked UW men get caught up in Pac-12’s image crisis," 5 Feb. 2019 Though most smartphones come bundled with shoddy buds, 50% of those subpar sets never make it out of the box, according to tech researchers at the Diffusion Group. — Jeff Slate, WSJ, "Do Bose’s New Audio Sunglasses Live Up to the Hype?," 31 Jan. 2019 Each day here, miners wearing shoddy headlamps descend 400 feet below scorching sand to grind and hammer into rock. — Joe Parkinson, WSJ, "Thousands Flock to Remote, Lawless Sahara in Search of Gold," 16 Oct. 2018 The companies have come under fire for excessive rent hikes and fees, itchy eviction triggers, and shoddy maintenance, among other things. — Jeff Andrews, Curbed, "A brand new single-family neighborhood, where every unit is a rental," 10 Sep. 2018 Traffic is just a salient example of our shoddy situation. — Smith Henderson, Popular Mechanics, "I Went to the Opening of Elon Musk's First Boring Company Tunnel and Here Is What I Found," 19 Dec. 2018 Yes, money knows no boundaries, but some CEOs and venture capitalists do grumble about whether a country with a shoddy human rights record should be holding the purse string in the American economy’s most vibrant, innovative sector. — Theodore Schleifer, Recode, "In the Tesla drama, Saudi Arabia reminds Silicon Valley of its weight," 13 Aug. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'shoddy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.