Definition

Adjective: - Trying to maintain dignity and self-respect despite shabbiness: Describes a person, their appearance, or their lifestyle that is poor or worn but where efforts are made to preserve an air of respectability or former gentility.

Usage

This adjective is used to describe someone or something that is visibly impoverished or run-down, yet there is a noticeable attempt to uphold standards of polite society or a previously higher social standing. It often carries a tone of pity or gentle irony.

Examples

Advanced Usage

• The term can imply a quiet, often tragic, struggle against declining circumstances.
• It is frequently applied to settings (homes, neighborhoods) as well as to people and their attire.

Variants and Related Words

• Genteel (adj): Polite, refined, or respectable, often in an affected or exaggerated way.
  • They lived in genteel poverty.
• Shabbiness (n): The state of being in poor condition through long use or lack of care.

Synonyms

• Down-at-heel: Poor and worn in appearance.
• Seedy: Shabby and squalid.
• Threadbare: (Of cloth, clothing, or a person) very thin and tattered with age.

Antonyms

• Prosperous: Successful in material terms.
• Opulent: Ostentatiously rich and luxurious.
• Well-to-do: Wealthy; prosperous.

Notes

• "Shabby-genteel" is a hyphenated compound adjective. It is typically used attributively (before a noun) but can also be used predicatively.
• The term originates from the 19th century and is closely associated with Victorian social observations about class and poverty.

Adjective

1. trying to maintain dignity and self respect despite shabbiness