tattered

tat·tered | \ ˈta-tərd

How to pronounce tattered (audio)

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Definition of tattered

1 : torn into shreds : ragged a tattered flag

2a : 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

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Examples of tattered in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples on the Web But flipping to the calendar’s inside pages reveals photos of tattered tents and tarps clustered in a series of homeless campsites along sidewalks, roads and fields in East Portland. — oregonlive, "Leaked calendar from fire station featuring Portland’s homeless camps urges: ‘Get your reservations early!’," 18 Feb. 2020 Gaze upon that old, wizened man in tattered rags eating a chimichurri-steak sandwich. — Brian Agler, The New Yorker, "You Will Never Escape This Fancy Food Hall," 14 Jan. 2020 The central bank has been financing government spending, filling holes in a tattered budget to limit public ire over cuts. — Peter S. Goodman, New York Times, "Iran’s Grim Economy Limits Its Willingness to Confront the U.S.," 13 Jan. 2020 The $45 exchange left her locks a tattered, uneven mess. — NBC News, "Made in Cambodia: How women in poverty are supplying America's market for hair," 21 Sep. 2019 Cousins in their mid-20s cooled the rice with tattered paper fans that belonged to their grandmother. — Hannah Kirshner, New York Times, "In Japanese New Year Dishes, a Family Connects With Its Past," 24 Dec. 2019 Allen’s network has helped grandmothers raising grandchildren living in tattered homes and deteriorating trailers on the deep South Side. — Vincent T. Davis, ExpressNews.com, "Nonprofit founder advocates for those in need across San Antonio," 23 Dec. 2019 The creature slips down a manhole and finds, in the bowels of Tokyo, a tattered imperial flag, grenades from the Sino-Japanese War, and a sign supporting the imperial forces of Nanking. — Moeko Fujii, The New Yorker, "Watching Tokyo Through the Eyes of Outsiders," 16 Dec. 2019 Three years after the referendum result to leave, everyone who had pinned their tattered hopes on remaining in Europe and on Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party socialism, woke up to all the feelings that Hillary Clinton’s supporters will remember so well. — Sarah Mower, Vogue, "What Comes After Boris Johnson’s Election Win?," 13 Dec. 2019

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.

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Last Updated

23 Feb 2020

Cite this Entry

“Tattered.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tattered. Accessed 23 Feb. 2020.

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