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Glite Dictionary
🏠 Covered with tar paper 🛖 Poorly built
tarpapered

tarpapered

8.7
Cheap, poorly built homes that look covered with tar paper
  • adjective
  • /ˈtɑːrˌpeɪpərd/
  • US
translation icon : de mala construcción
  • Many of the tarpapered shacks were built quickly after the storm.

Examples

  • The tarpapered shed fell apart after the storm.

  • He grew up in a tarpapered neighborhood that struggled with poverty.

  • The family lived in a tarpapered house at the edge of town.

  • Many tarpapered buildings can be found in the old part of town.

  • The family lived in a tarpapered house at the edge of town, where the walls were thin and the roof leaked.

  • Many of the tarpapered shacks were built quickly after the storm, offering little protection from the elements.

  • He grew up in a tarpapered neighborhood, where many homes were poorly maintained and often in disrepair.

Synonyms

tattered
vstarpapered
4 4.1

Old and torn clothes or fabric with loose threads

describes cheap or poorly made condition rather than wear
tatterdemalion
vstarpapered
  • Archaic
9.9

Wearing old, torn, and dirty clothes

focuses on cheap construction or poor maintenance instead of clothing wear

Antonyms

well-made
17 3.6

Built carefully so it is strong and lasts

How Shabby

ramshackle
10 7.5
tarpapered
  • US
8.7
plain
208 1.0
well-made
17 3.6

Surface Forms

tarpapered positive

Morphology

tarpapered = tar + paper (semi-transparent) = tar + paper + ed

The compound 'tar + paper' is a clear material reference; the morphological step is adding '-ed' to form an adjective from that compound.

Etymology

Tarpapered comes from being covered with tar and paper, and because that cover was often a quick, temporary fix people began using the word to describe things that look rough or are not well made. So a tarpapered house can mean 'cheap' or 'poorly built'.