shoddy

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: shod=dy

CIDE DICTIONARY

shoddy, n. [Perhaps fr. Shed, v. t.; as meaning originally, waste stuff shed or thrown off; cf. dial. shod to shed, and E. Shed a parting, separation, Shode a parting.].

•  A fibrous material obtained by “deviling,” or tearing into fibers, refuse woolen goods, old stockings, rags, druggets, etc. See Mungo.  [1913 Webster]
•  Fluffy, fibrous waste from wool carding, worsted spinning, or weaving of woolens.  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
•  A fabric of inferior quality made of, or containing a large amount of, shoddy.  [1913 Webster]

  " The great quantity of shoddy goods furnished as army supplies in the late Civil War in the United States gave wide currency to the word, and it came to be applied to persons who pretend to a higher position in society than that to which their breeding or worth entitles them; this term is now (1997) rarely used in that sense."  [1913 Webster]

shoddy, a. 

•  Made wholly or in part of shoddy; containing shoddy; as, shoddy cloth; shoddy blankets; hence, colloquially, not genuine; sham; pretentious; as, shoddy aristocracy.  [1913 Webster]

  "Shoddy inventions designed to bolster up a factitious pride."  [1913 Webster]
•  of poor quality or inferior workmanship.  [PJC]
•  visibly worn or damaged from use; shabby.  [PJC]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

shoddy, adj. & n.
--adj. (shoddier, shoddiest)
1 trashy; shabby; poorly made.
2 counterfeit.
--n. (pl. -ies)
1 a an inferior cloth made partly from the shredded fibre of old woollen cloth. b such fibre.
2 any thing of shoddy quality.

Derivative

shoddily adv. shoddiness n.

Etymology

19th c.: orig. dial.

THESAURUS

shoddy

NG, abject, abominable, affected, apocryphal, arrant, artificial, assumed, atrocious, awful, base, bastard, beastly, beat-up, bedraggled, beggarly, beneath contempt, blameworthy, blowzy, bogus, broken-down, brummagem, brutal, budget, careless, cheap, cheapjack, cheat, cheesy, chintzy, clamjamfry, clinquant, colorable, colored, common, contemptible, counterfeit, counterfeited, crappy, crummy, debased, debris, degraded, deplorable, depraved, despicable, detestable, dilapidated, dingy, dire, dirty, discreditable, disgraceful, disgusting, dishonorable, disreputable, distorted, dowdy, down-at-heel, down-at-the-heels, drabbletailed, draggled, draggletailed, dreadful, dressed up, dummy, dust, easy, economic, economy, egregious, embellished, embroidered, enormous, ersatz, execrable, factitious, fake, faked, fakement, falsified, feigned, fetid, fictitious, fictive, filthy, flagrant, forgery, foul, frame-up, fraud, frayed, frazzled, frowzy, frugal, frumpish, frumpy, full of holes, fulsome, garbled, gaudy, gimcracky, good-for-naught, good-for-nothing, grave, grievous, gross, grubby, hateful, heinous, hoax, holey, horrible, horrid, ignominious, illegitimate, imitation, impostor, in rags, in shreds, in tatters, inexpensive, infamous, inferior, informal, inglorious, junk, junky, lamentable, litter, little, loathsome, loose, lousy, low, low-down, low-priced, lumber, lumpen, make-believe, makeshift, man-made, manageable, mangy, mean, measly, meretricious, messy, miserable, mock, moderate, modest, monstrous, mussy, nasty, nefarious, negligent, no-account, no-good, noisome, nominal, not worth having, not worth mentioning, not worthwhile, notorious, nugacious, nugatory, obnoxious, odious, offensive, outrageous, paltry, paste, patchy, pathetic, perverted, petty, phony, pinchbeck, pitiable, pitiful, plastic, poky, poor, pretended, pseudo, put-on, put-up job, quasi, queer, raff, ragged, raggedy, rank, ratty, reasonable, regrettable, reprehensible, reptilian, repulsive, riffraff, rip-off, rotten, rubbish, rubbishy, rubble, ruinous, run-down, sad, scabby, scandalous, schlock, scraggly, scrap, scrubby, scruffy, scummy, scurvy, scuzzy, second-rate, seedy, self-styled, sensible, shabby, shady, sham, shameful, shocking, simulacrum, simulated, slack, slatternly, sleazy, slipshod, sloppy, slovenly, sluttish, small, so-called, soi-disant, sordid, sorry, spurious, squalid, supposititious, swindle, synthetic, tacky, tattered, tatty, tawdry, terrible, tin, tinsel, tinselly, titivated, token, too bad, torn, trash, trashy, trivial, truck, trumpery, twisted, two-for-a-cent, two-for-a-penny, twopenny, twopenny-halfpenny, unauthentic, unclean, unexpensive, ungenuine, unkempt, unmentionable, unnatural, unneat, unreal, unrespectable, unsightly, untidy, valueless, vile, villainous, warped, whited sepulcher, within means, woeful, worst, worth the money, worthless, wretched

ROGET THESAURUS

shoddy

Inutility

N inutility, uselessness, inefficacy, futility, ineptitude, inaptitude, unsubservience, inadequacy, inefficiency, unskillfulness, disservice, unfruitfulness (unproductiveness), labor in vain, labor lost, labor of Sisyphus, lost trouble, lost labor, work of Penelope, sleeveless errand, wild goose chase, mere farce, tautology, supererogation, vanitas vanitatum, vanity, inanity, worthlessness, nugacity, triviality, caput mortuum, waste paper, dead letter, blunt tool, litter, rubbish, junk, lumber, odds and ends, cast-off clothes, button top, shoddy, rags, orts, trash, refuse, sweepings, scourings, offscourings, waste, rubble, debris, detritus, stubble, leavings, broken meat, dregs, weeds, tares, rubbish heap, dust hole, rudera, deads, fruges consumere natus, useless, inutile, inefficacious, futile, unavailing, bootless, inoperative, inadequate, inservient, unsubservient, inept, inefficient, of no avail, ineffectual, incompetent, stale, flat and unprofitable, superfluous, dispensable, thrown away, abortive, worthless, valueless, priceless, unsalable, not worth a straw, dear at any price, vain, empty, inane, gainless, profitless, fruitless, unserviceable, unprofitable, ill-spent, unproductive, hors de combat, effete, past work, obsolete, fit for the dust hole, good for nothing, of no earthly use, not worth having, not worth powder and shot, leading to no end, uncalled for, unnecessary, unneeded, uselessly, to little purpose, to no purpose, to little or no purpose, Int, cui bono?, what's the good!, actum ne agas, chercher une aiguille dans une botte de foin, tanto buon che val niente.

Worthlessness

N worthlessness, valuelessness, lack of value, uselessness, cheapness, shoddiness, low quality, poor quality, trash, garbage, worthless, valueless, useless, cheap, shoddy, slapdash, inexpensive, not worth the paper it's printed on, not worth a sou.