tatterdemalion

[ tat-er-di-meyl-yuhn, -mal- ]

noun

1. a person in tattered clothing; a shabby person.

adjective

1. ragged; unkempt or dilapidated.

tatterdemalion

/ ˌtætədɪˈmeɪljən; -ˈmæl- /

noun

1. rare.
   1. a person dressed in ragged clothes
   2. ( as modifier )

      a tatterdemalion dress

Word History and Origins

Origin of tatterdemalion¹

1600–10; first written tatter-de-mallian and rhymed with Italian; tatter ¹; -de-mallian < ?

Word History and Origins

Origin of tatterdemalion¹

C17: from tatter + -demalion, of uncertain origin

Example Sentences

Off it flaps on tatterdemalion wings to wreak much CG-enabled property damage on downtown Philadelphia, where the picture is set.

From Seattle Times

Arriving two weeks before the release of “Bones and All,” Luca Guadagnino’s tatterdemalion drifter romance, the director’s “Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams” surveys a more refined coupling, not of people, but of pumps.

From New York Times

They perched on fence posts, on the roofs of vans, in tatterdemalion back yards.

From Washington Post

He, like Putin, is losing leverage and his tatterdemalion posturing looks daily more threadbare.

From Forbes

Who, indeed, could not be spellbound, beholding that countless changing tatterdemalion caravan go by?

From Project Gutenberg