tattered

adjective tat·tered \ ˈta-tərd \

|Updated on: 15 Jun 2018

Examples: tattered in a Sentence

Definition of tattered

1 : torn into shreds : ragged

a tattered flag

2 a : broken down : dilapidated

decaying houses along tattered paved streets
—P. B. Martin

b : being in a shattered condition

led their tattered party to victory

3 : wearing ragged clothes

a tattered barefoot boy

See tattered defined for English-language learners

See tattered defined for kids

Examples of tattered in a Sentence

a pile of old tattered books
arrived at the refugee camp tattered and exhausted

Recent Examples of tattered from the Web

As Emmy underwent surgery, Mom clutched a tattered yellow stuffed animal named Ducky, who was given to Emmy after she was diagnosed with diabetes.

— wayne drash, CNN, "The medicine keeping her alive was also killing her," 12 June 2018
Salio consults his tattered notebook of people who left their names with him, calling them out when their turn comes.

— CBS News, "Asylum seekers wait days and weeks at U.S.-Mexico border," 7 June 2018
The current social services safety net, however tattered, was only a dream in the Gilded Age.

— rick hampson, USA TODAY, "America's Second Gilded Age: More class envy than class conflict," 17 May 2018
An impromptu parade starts with a piper, two drummers and a young man with a blood-soaked, bandaged head holding a flag as tattered and forlorn as its carrier.

— steve west, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Innocence lost, power found | Opinion," 8 May 2018
That photo, taken by Lawrence Beitler on Aug 7, 1930, shows a crowd of smiling white faces looking at the photographer's camera as two black men, clothes ripped and tattered, hang lifeless from a tree.

— maureen c. gilmer, Indianapolis Star, "Last-known lynching in Indiana included in National Memorial for Peace and Justice," 27 Apr. 2018
School buildings are crumbling in many parts of the state, textbooks are outdated and tattered, and about 20 percent of districts have moved to four-day school weeks.

— moriah balingit, Washington Post, "Betsy DeVos to Oklahoma teachers: ‘Serve the students’," 9 Apr. 2018
Underneath them is an old Belgian workbench, tattered and brazen in a proud industrial sort of way, that Anderson deems one of his favorite finds.

— lacy morris, ELLE Decor, "House Tour: A Country Home Plays With Gothic Decor," 29 May 2017
Perroncarefully climbed the ladder, dressed in his JROTC uniform, and cut down the wreath placed there last year, tattered by weather and missing the two small American flags that once adorned it.

— billy baker, BostonGlobe.com, "Planting flags, hanging wreaths, and learning lessons," 26 May 2018

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