shabby

[ shab-ee ]

adjective

, shab·bi·er, shab·bi·est.

1. impaired by wear, use, etc.; worn:

   shabby clothes.

2. showing conspicuous signs of wear or neglect:

   The rooms on the upper floors of the mansion had a rather shabby appearance, as if they had not been much in use of late.

3. wearing worn clothes or having a slovenly or unkempt appearance:

   a shabby person.

4. run-down, seedy, or dilapidated:

   a shabby hotel.

5. meanly ungenerous or unfair; contemptible, as persons, actions, etc.:

   shabby behavior.

6. inferior; not up to par in quality, performance, etc.:

   a shabby rendition of the sonata.

shabby

/ ˈʃæbɪ /

adjective

1. threadbare or dilapidated in appearance
2. wearing worn and dirty clothes; seedy
3. mean, despicable, or unworthy

   shabby treatment

4. dirty or squalid

Derived Forms

• ˈshabbily, adverb
• ˈshabbiness, noun

Other Words From

• shabbi·ly adverb
• shabbi·ness noun
• un·shabbi·ly adverb
• un·shabby adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of shabby¹

1660–70; shab ( Middle English; Old English sceabb scab ) + -y ¹; cognate with German schäbig

Word History and Origins

Origin of shabby¹

C17: from Old English sceabb scab + -y ¹

Example Sentences

That reached a peak with "The Apprentice," the reality show whose producers built a set of fake Trump offices, because the real ones were far too shabby.

From Salon

Tolman is reason enough to turn on the television, though I have not quite forgiven television for its shabby treatment of the last two series in which she starred, the science-fiction drama “Emergence” and the delicate thinking-animal comedy “Downward Dog.”

From Los Angeles Times

Planning permission for Mr DePree's scheme was granted in 2022, the same year he wrote Downton Shabby, which chronicled his efforts to revive the manor.

From BBC

But in the late 1980s, Ports O’ Call Village faded and grew shabby, a victim of changing tastes in entertainment and dwindling investment in its upkeep and improvement.

From Los Angeles Times

Her strike rate of 116.52 is not too shabby, either.

From BBC

Related Words

• crummy
• decaying
• decrepit
• desolate
• dilapidated
• dingy
• pitiful
• ramshackle
• ratty
• rickety
• run down
• scruffy
• seedy
• shoddy
• squalid
• tacky
• tattered
• threadbare
• worn