Definition

1. Adjective:
   • In a deplorable, untidy, or dilapidated condition: Describes something that is in a very poor, messy, or broken-down state, often from neglect or age.
   • Soiled, wet, and limp as if dragged through mud or water: Describes something, especially clothing or fabric, that is dirty, wet, and hanging limply, giving a soggy and untidy appearance.

Usage Examples

• Describing a poor condition:
  • They walked down a street of bedraggled tenements.
  • The old, bedraggled fence was falling apart.
• Describing wet, dirty, limp appearance:
  • The dog came inside, bedraggled from the rainstorm.
  • Her bedraggled dress was covered in mud after the fall.

Advanced Usage

• "bedraggled state": emphasizes the condition of being wet, dirty, and untidy.
  • The flowers were in a bedraggled state after the heavy downpour.
• "looking bedraggled": a common phrase to describe a person's or animal's disheveled appearance.
  • After the long hike in the rain, the entire group was looking bedraggled.

Variants and Related Words

• Bedraggle (verb, rare): To make something wet, dirty, and limp.
  • The storm bedraggled the flags along the promenade.
• Draggled (adjective): Similar to 'bedraggled,' meaning wet, dirty, and hanging limply. Often used in older or literary contexts.
  • ...scarecrows in... draggled skirts.

Synonyms

• Dilapidated: In a state of disrepair or ruin.
• Disheveled: Untidy, disordered (especially of hair or clothing).
• Sodden: Soaked through.
• Muddied: Covered or stained with mud.

Antonyms

• Pristine: In its original condition; clean and fresh.
• Immaculate: Perfectly clean, neat, or tidy.
• Well-kept: Maintained in good condition.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• "Like a drowned rat": An idiom describing someone who is extremely wet and bedraggled.
  • He came out of the pool like a drowned rat.
• "Down at heel": An idiom describing a shabby or impoverished appearance, which can overlap with the 'deplorable condition' sense of bedraggled.
  • The bedraggled, down-at-heel traveler asked for directions.

Adjective

1. in deplorable condition
   • a street of bedraggled tenements
   • a broken-down fence
   • a ramshackle old pier
   • a tumble-down shack
2. limp and soiled as if dragged in the mud
   • the beggar's bedraggled clothes
   • scarecrows in battered hats or draggled skirts