| / English Dictionary |
SHABBY
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
Irregular inflected forms: shabbier , shabbiest
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Mean and unworthy and despicable
Example:
shabby treatment
Classified under:
Similar:
dishonorable; dishonourable (lacking honor or integrity; deserving dishonor)
Derivation:
shabbiness (an unjust act)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Showing signs of wear and tear
Example:
an old house with dirty windows and tatty curtains
Synonyms:
moth-eaten; ratty; shabby; tatty
Classified under:
Similar:
worn (affected by wear; damaged by long use)
Derivation:
shabbiness (a lack of elegance as a consequence of wearing threadbare or dirty clothing)
Context examples:
“I have become shabby enough, if you mean that,” he said.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
When they came to the village, the son followed the fox’s counsel, and without looking about him went to the shabby inn and rested there all night at his ease.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
So out came the tarlatan, looking older, limper, and shabbier than ever beside Sallie's crisp new one.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
She was now lying on the faded sofa of the pretty little drawing-room, the once elegant furniture of which had been gradually growing shabby, under the influence of four summers and two children; and, on Anne's appearing, greeted her with—So, you are come at last!
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
Mr. Perry had been to Mrs. Goddard's to attend a sick child, and Miss Nash had seen him, and he had told Miss Nash, that as he was coming back yesterday from Clayton Park, he had met Mr. Elton, and found to his great surprize, that Mr. Elton was actually on his road to London, and not meaning to return till the morrow, though it was the whist-club night, which he had been never known to miss before; and Mr. Perry had remonstrated with him about it, and told him how shabby it was in him, their best player, to absent himself, and tried very much to persuade him to put off his journey only one day; but it would not do; Mr. Elton had been determined to go on, and had said in a very particular way indeed, that he was going on business which he would not put off for any inducement in the world; and something about a very enviable commission, and being the bearer of something exceedingly precious.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
To this crib I always took my doll; human beings must love something, and, in the dearth of worthier objects of affection, I contrived to find a pleasure in loving and cherishing a faded graven image, shabby as a miniature scarecrow.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
I know that I worked, from morning until night, with common men and boys, a shabby child.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
I should be very silly, said he, if I went to that shabby house, and left this charming place; so he went into the smart house, and ate and drank at his ease, and forgot the bird, and his country too.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
It's like other people, you know, and I always envy girls who do such things, I'm so fond of luxury, said Meg, trying to decide which of two shabby gowns was the least shabby.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
I got into such a transport, that I felt quite sorry my coat was not a little shabby already.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
