shabby
31
2.5
- adjective
- /ˈʃæbi/
- The restaurant's shabby decor made it feel uninviting and unkempt.
- shabby clothes
- a shabby apartment
- shabby old house
Loading YouTube…
Watch on YouTubeThey pass with the moment of effect and are shabby and tawdry in the daylight.
- They pass with the moment of effect and are shabby and tawdry in the daylight.
- So this law is looking pretty shabby at this point.
- They need to be fit, not fat, sharp, not shabby.
- It's eclectic, it's shabby chic, it's colorful and filled with texture.
- They are more brown, not too shabby I don't think it could be further away from a Cheeto, but it still tastes good.
Examples
-
The old sofa in the living room looked shabby after years of use and neglect.
-
The few pieces of furniture were shabby: two unpainted chairs, a worn woven rug.
Fiction book (1993) -
This city itself was shabby, dirty, declining, angry.
-
One afternoon, these new friends gathered on the couch of our shabby studio apartment.
Academic text (2001) -
Standing right next to the wealthy couple was a thin, tall man in shabby clothes.
Fiction book (1992) -
His clothes, a shabby green coat and light trousers, did nothing to enhance his appearance.
Academic text (2010) -
There weren't any dining cars, and the seats were all shabby.
-
Pork spent the night at a shabby cottage in the weedy wilds of Touhy Avenue.
Fiction book (1993) -
She wore a shabby coat that had clearly seen better days.
Synonyms
57
3.7
An object that is damaged and has many marks from rough use
30
6.5
Worn and dirty, in bad condition
25
4.1
Old and torn clothes or fabric with loose threads
25
4.7
Poor and in bad condition with little value
24
4.0
Something that looks worn, torn, and messy
23
3.8
Messy and untidy in clothes or appearance
19
4.6
Dark and dirty so it does not look bright
11
5.4
Looking worn and dirty from use
9
7.5
Old and in very bad condition, like a house about to fall down
2
4.8
Old clothing or fabric with small holes made by moths
1
6.0
Worn and in poor condition because of age or heavy use
Antonyms
Compounds
- Archaic
1
9.3
A person or place that looks slightly worn but still tries to seem elegant
How Worn
Surface Forms
Etymology
Shabby comes from an old word shab meaning 'scabby' or 'mangy', which gives the picture of cloth or animals with worn patches. So shabby now means 'in poor condition' because it looked worn and uncared for.