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shabby

American  
[shab-ee] / ˈʃæb i /

adjective

shabbier, shabbiest

  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 British  
/ 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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • shabbily adverb
  • shabbiness noun
  • unshabbily adverb
  • unshabby adjective

Etymology

Origin of shabby

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

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.