shabby

• POS: Adjective
• HYPHEN: shab=by

CIDE DICTIONARY

shabby, a. [See Shab, n., Scabby, and Scab.].

•  Torn or worn to rage; poor; mean; ragged.  [1913 Webster]

  "Wearing shabby coats and dirty shirts."  [1913 Webster]
•  Clothed with ragged, much worn, or soiled garments.  Swift.  [1913 Webster]
•  Mean; paltry; despicable; as, shabby treatment.  Clarendon.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

shabby, adj. (shabbier, shabbiest)
1 in bad repair or condition; faded and worn, dingy, dilapidated.
2 dressed in old or worn clothes.
3 of poor quality.
4 contemptible, dishonourable (a shabby trick).

Derivative

shabbily adv. shabbiness n. shabbyish adj.

Etymology

shab scab f. OE sceabb f. ON, rel. to SCAB

THESAURUS

shabby

Mickey Mouse, NG, abandoned, abject, abominable, arrant, atrocious, awful, bare, base, battered, beastly, beat-up, bedraggled, beggarly, beneath contempt, blameworthy, blowzy, broken-down, brutal, budget, careless, cheap, cheesy, chintzy, coarse, common, contemptible, contemptuous, crummy, debased, decaying, decrepit, deficient, degraded, demeaning, deplorable, depraved, desolate, despicable, deteriorated, deteriorating, detestable, dilapidated, dingy, dire, dirty, disagreeable, discreditable, disfigured, disgraceful, disgusting, dishonorable, disreputable, dog-eared, dowdy, down-at-heel, down-at-the-heels, drabbletailed, draggled, draggletailed, dreadful, easy, economic, economy, egregious, enormous, execrable, faded, fetid, filthy, flagrant, foul, fourth-class, frayed, frazzled, frowzy, frugal, frumpish, frumpy, full of holes, fulsome, gaudy, gimcracky, good-for-naught, good-for-nothing, grave, grievous, gross, grubby, grudging, grungy, hateful, heinous, holey, horrible, horrid, ignoble, ignominious, imperfect, impolite, in rags, in shreds, in tatters, inadequate, incompetent, inexpensive, infamous, inferior, informal, inglorious, insufficient, irregular, junk, junky, lamentable, little, loathsome, loose, lousy, low, low-class, low-down, low-grade, low-priced, low-quality, low-test, lowly, lumpen, maladroit, manageable, mangy, mean, mean-spirited, measly, mediocre, meretricious, messy, mingy, miserable, moderate, modest, monstrous, moth-eaten, mussy, nasty, nefarious, neglected, negligent, niggard, niggardly, no-account, no-good, noisome, nominal, not comparable, not in it, not worth having, not worth mentioning, not worthwhile, notorious, nugacious, nugatory, obnoxious, odious, offensive, opprobrious, out of it, outrageous, outworn, paltry, patchy, pathetic, penurious, peremptory, petty, pinchpenny, pitiable, pitiful, poky, poor, poverty-stricken, punk, ragged, raggedy, ramshackle, rank, ratty, reasonable, regrettable, reprehensible, reptilian, repulsive, rickety, rotten, rubbishy, rude, ruined, ruinous, run-down, sad, scabby, scandalous, schlock, scraggly, scrubby, scruffy, scummy, scurvy, scuzzy, second-best, second-class, seedy, sensible, shady, shameful, shattered, shocking, shoddy, slack, slatternly, sleazy, slipshod, sloppy, slovenly, slumlike, slummy, sluttish, small, sordid, sorry, squalid, stingy, tacky, tattered, tatty, terrible, third-class, third-rate, threadbare, tinny, tired, token, too bad, torn, trashy, trivial, trumpery, tumbledown, two-for-a-cent, two-for-a-penny, twopenny, twopenny-halfpenny, unclean, uncouth, unexpensive, unfriendly, ungenerous, ungentlemanly, unhelpful, unkempt, unladylike, unmentionable, unneat, unpleasant, unrespectable, unsightly, unskillful, untidy, unworthy, valueless, vile, villainous, within means, woeful, worn, worn out, worn-out, worst, worth the money, worthless, wrecked, wretched

ROGET THESAURUS

shabby

Unimportance

N unimportance, insignificance, nothingness, immateriality, triviality, levity, frivolity, paltriness, poverty, smallness, vanity, matter of indifference, no object, nothing, nothing to signify, nothing worth speaking of, nothing particular, nothing to boast of, nothing to speak of, small matter, no great matter, trifling matter, mere joke, mere nothing, hardly anything, scarcely anything, nonentity, small beer, cipher, no great shakes, peu de chose, child's play, kinderspiel, toy, plaything, popgun, paper pellet, gimcrack, gewgaw, bauble, trinket, bagatelle, Rickshaw, knickknack, whim-wham, trifle, trifles light as air, yankee notions, trumpery, trash, rubbish, stuff, fatras, frippery, leather or prunello, chaff, drug, froth bubble smoke, cobweb, weed, refuse, scum, joke, jest, snap of the fingers, fudge, fiddlestick, fiddlestick end, pack of nonsense, mere farce, straw, pin, fig, button, rush, bulrush, feather, halfpenny, farthing, brass farthing, doit, peppercorn, jot, rap, pinch of snuff, old son, cent, mill, picayune, pistareen, red cent, minutiae, details, minor details, small fry, dust in the balance, feather in the scale, drop in the ocean, flea-bite, molehill, nine days' wonder, ridiculus mus, flash in the pan, much ado about nothing, unimportant, of little account, of small account, of no account, of little importance, of no importance, immaterial, unessential, nonessential, indifferent, subordinate, mediocre, passable, fair, respectable, tolerable, commonplace, uneventful, mere, common, ordinary, inconsiderable, so-so, insignificant, inappreciable, trifling, trivial, slight, slender, light, flimsy, frothy, idle, puerile, airy, shallow, weak, powerless, frivolous, petty, niggling, piddling, peddling, fribble, inane, ridiculous, farcical, finical, finikin, fiddle-faddle, fingle-fangle, namby-pamby, wishy-washy, milk and water, poor, paltry, pitiful, contemptible, sorry, mean, meager, shabby, miserable, wretched, vile, scrubby, scrannel, weedy, niggardly, scurvy, putid, beggarly, worthless, twopennyhalfpenny, cheap, trashy, catchpenny, gimcrack, trumpery, one- horse, not worth the pains, not worth while, not worth mentioning, not worth speaking of, not worth a thought, not worth a curse, not worth a straw, beneath notice, unworthy of notice, beneath regard, unworthy of regard, beneath consideration, unworthy of consideration, de lana caprina, vain, slightly, rather, somewhat, pretty well, tolerably, for aught one cares, Int, no matter!, pish!, tush!, tut!, pshaw!, pugh!, pooh, pooh-pooh!, fudge!, bosh!, humbug!, fiddlestick, fiddlestick end!, fiddlededee!, never mind!, n'importe!, what signifies it, what boots it, what of it, what of that, what matter, what's the odds, a fig for', stuff!, nonsense!, stuff and nonsense, magno conatu magnas nugas, le jeu ne vaut pas la chandelle, it matters not, it does not signify, it is of no consequence, it is of no importance, elephantus non capit murem, tempete dans un verre d'eau.

Deterioration

N deterioration, debasement, wane, ebb, recession, retrogradation, decrease, degeneracy, degeneration, degenerateness, degradation, depravation, depravement, devolution, depravity, demoralization, retrogression, masochism, impairment, inquination, injury, damage, loss, detriment, delaceration, outrage, havoc, inroad, ravage, scath, perversion, prostitution, vitiation, discoloration, oxidation, pollution, defoedation, poisoning, venenation, leaven, contamination, canker, corruption, adulteration, alloy, decline, declension, declination, decadence, decadency, falling off, caducity, decrepitude, decay, dilapidation, ravages of time, wear and tear, corrosion, erosion, moldiness, rottenness, moth and rust, dry rot, blight, marasmus, atrophy, collapse, disorganization, delabrement (destruction), aphid, Aphis, plant louse, puceron, vinefretter, vinegrub, wreck, mere wreck, honeycomb, magni nominis umbra, jade, plug, rackabones, skate, tackey, tacky, have seen better days, deteriorate, degenerate, fall off, wane, ebb, retrograde, decline, droop, go down, go downhill, go from bad to worse, go farther and fare worse, jump out of the frying pan into the fire, run to seed, go to seed, run to waste swale, sweal, lapse, be the worse for, sphacelate: break, break down, spring a leak, crack, start, shrivel, fade, go off, wither, molder, rot, rankle, decay, go bad, go to decay, fall into decay, fall into the sear and yellow leaf, rust, crumble, shake, totter, totter to its fall, perish, die, deteriorate, weaken, put back, set back, taint, infect, contaminate, poison, empoison, envenom, canker, corrupt, exulcerate, pollute, vitiate, inquinate, debase, embase, denaturalize, denature, leaven, deflower, debauch, defile, deprave, degrade, ulcerate, stain, discolor, alloy, adulterate, sophisticate, tamper with, prejudice, pervert, prostitute, demoralize, brutalize, render vicious, embitter, acerbate, exacerbate, aggravate, injure, impair, labefy, damage, harm, hurt, shend, scath, scathe, spoil, mar, despoil, dilapidate, waste, overrun, ravage, pillage, wound, stab, pierce, maim, lame, surbate, cripple, hough, hamstring, hit between wind and water, scotch, mangle, mutilate, disfigure, blemish, deface, warp, blight, rot, corrode, erode, wear away, wear out, gnaw, gnaw at the root of, sap, mine, undermine, shake, sap the foundations of, break up, disorganize, dismantle, dismast, destroy, damnify, do one's worst, knock down, deal a blow to, play havoc with, play sad havoc with, play the mischief with, play the deuce with, play the very devil with, play havoc among, play sad havoc among, play the mischief among, play the deuce among, play the very devil among, decimate, Adj, unimproved &c (improve), deteriorated, altered, altered for the worse, injured, sprung, withering, spoiling, on the wane, on the decline, tabid, degenerate, marescent, worse, the worse for, all the worse for, out of repair, out of tune, imperfect, the worse for wear, battered, weathered, weather-beaten, stale, passe, shaken, dilapidated, frayed, faded, wilted, shabby, secondhand, threadbare, worn, worn to a thread, worn to a shadow, worn to the stump, worn to rags, reduced, reduced to a skeleton, far gone, tacky, decayed, moth-eaten, worm-eaten, mildewed, rusty, moldy, spotted, seedy, time-worn, moss-grown, discolored, effete, wasted, crumbling, moldering, rotten, cankered, blighted, tainted, depraved, decrepid, decrepit, broke, busted, broken, out of commission, hors de combat, out of action, broken down, done, done for, done up, worn out, used up, finished, beyond saving, fit for the dust hole, fit for the wastepaper basket, past work, at a low ebb, in a bad way, on one's last legs, undermined, deciduous, nodding to its fall, tottering, past cure, fatigued, retrograde, deleterious, out of the frying pan into the fire, agrescit medendo, what a falling off was there!.

Parsimony

N parsimony, parcity, parsimoniousness, stinginess, stint, illiberality, tenacity, avarice, greed, miser, niggard, churl, screw, skinflint, crib, codger, muckworm, scrimp, lickpenny, hunks, curmudgeon, Harpagon, harpy, extortioner, Jew, usurer, Hessian, pinch fist, pinch penny, parsimonious, penurious, stingy, miserly, mean, shabby, peddling, scrubby, penny wise, near, niggardly, close, fast handed, close handed, strait handed, close fisted, hard fisted, tight fisted, tight, sparing, chary, grudging, griping, illiberal, ungenerous, churlish, hidebound, sordid, mercenary, venal, covetous, usurious, avaricious, greedy, extortionate, rapacious, with a sparing hand, desunt inopioe multa avaritiae omnia, hoards after hoards his rising raptures fill, the unsunn'd heaps of miser's treasures.

Improbity

N improbity, dishonesty, dishonor, deviation from rectitude, disgrace, fraud, lying, bad faith, Punic faith, mala fides, Punica fides, infidelity, faithlessness, Judas kiss, betrayal, breach of promise, breach of trust, breach of faith, prodition, disloyalty, treason, high treason, apostasy, nonobservance, shabbiness, villainy, villany, baseness, abjection, debasement, turpitude, moral turpitude, laxity, trimming, shuffling, perfidy, perfidiousness, treachery, double dealing, unfairness, knavery, roguery, rascality, foul play, jobbing, jobbery, graft, bribery, venality, nepotism, corruption, job, shuffle, fishy transaction, barratry, sharp practice, heads I win tails you lose, mouth honor, dishonest, dishonorable, unconscientious, unscrupulous, fraudulent, knavish, disgraceful, wicked, false-hearted, disingenuous, unfair, one-sided, double, double- hearted, double-tongued, double-faced, timeserving, crooked, tortuous, insidious, Machiavelian, dark, slippery, fishy, perfidious, treacherous, perjured, infamous, arrant, foul, base, vile, ignominious, blackguard, contemptible, unrespectable, abject, mean, shabby, little, paltry, dirty, scurvy, scabby, sneaking, groveling, scrubby, rascally, pettifogging, beneath one, low-minded, low-thoughted, base-minded, undignified, indign, unbecoming, unbeseeming, unbefitting, derogatory, degrading, infra dignitatem, beneath one's dignity, ungentlemanly, ungentlemanlike, unknightly, unchivalric, unmanly, unhandsome, recreant, inglorious, corrupt, venal, debased, mongrel, faithless, of bad faith, false, unfaithful, disloyal, untrustworthy, trustless, trothless, lost to shame, dead to honor, barratrous, dishonestly, mala fide, like a thief in the night, by crooked paths, Int, O tempora!, O mores!, corruptissima respublica plurimae leges.