adjective
-
ragged or worn
a tattered old book
-
wearing ragged or torn clothing
tattered refugees
-
damaged, defeated, or in disarray
he believes he can bring the tattered party together
Other Word Forms
- untattered adjective
Etymology
Origin of tattered
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I reach my row, where a guy—whose hair is longer, prettier, and darker than mine—is folded into the window seat, reading a tattered paperback about modern Indigenous music.
From Literature
Not so long ago, tattered old maps of Africa’s most remote mining regions would conjure up images of Allan Quatermain cutting his way deep into the jungle in search of King Solomon’s Mines.
“I work so hard,” said Barrueto, who on a recent afternoon was cooking beans in a pair of tattered jeans.
From Los Angeles Times
But in Tawila, an AFP journalist gathered rare testimonies from five former detainees, speaking to them inside fragile shelters of straw and tattered fabric.
From Barron's
But we sense from her tattered sweater and blank stare a disconnection.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
