shabby
/'ʃæbi/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Worn out and dilapidated from long use or lack of care: Describes objects, clothing, or places that appear old, faded, and in poor condition.
- Contemptibly mean, unfair, or unworthy: Describes behavior, actions, or treatment that is dishonorable, stingy, or despicable.
Examples of Usage
- Describing physical condition:
- He wore a shabby coat with frayed sleeves.
- The hotel lobby looked shabby and in need of renovation.
- Describing behavior or treatment:
- It was a shabby way to treat a loyal friend.
- The company's shabby treatment of its employees led to a strike.
Advanced Usage
- "shabby-genteel": (adjective, often hyphenated) Attempting to maintain an appearance of gentility or respectability despite being poor or having shabby possessions.
- They lived in a shabby-genteel neighborhood, where old curtains hid empty rooms.
- "shabbily" (adverb): In a shabby manner.
- He was shabbily dressed.
- She felt she had been shabbily treated.
Variants and Related Words
- Shabbiness (noun): The state or quality of being shabby.
- The general shabbiness of the apartment was depressing.
- Tatty (adjective): Similar to 'shabby' in meaning worn-out and untidy.
- Threadbare (adjective): (Of fabric) becoming thin and tattered with age; can be used similarly to 'shabby'.
Synonyms
- For physical condition: Dilapidated, scruffy, worn-out, ragged, seedy.
- For behavior: Despicable, contemptible, mean, unworthy, dishonorable.
Related Phrases and Idioms
- "shabby treatment": Unfair or disrespectful handling of a person.
- The veterans complained of shabby treatment by the government.
- "to play a shabby trick on someone": To treat someone in a mean, deceitful, or dishonorable way.
- He played a shabby trick on his partner by hiding the important documents.
Adjective
- mean and unworthy and despicable
- shabby treatment
- showing signs of wear and tear
- a ratty old overcoat
- shabby furniture
- an old house with dirty windows and tatty curtains