Antonyms for shabby


Grammar : Adj
Spell : shab-ee
Phonetic Transcription : ˈʃæb i


Definition of shabby

Origin :
  • 1660s, of persons, "poorly dressed," with -y (2) + shab "a low fellow" (1630s), literally "scab" (now only dialectal in the literal sense, in reference to a disease of sheep), from Old English sceabb (the native form of the Scandinavian word that yielded Modern English scab; also see sh-). Cf. Middle Dutch schabbich, German schäbig "shabby."
  • Of clothes, furniture, etc., "of mean appearance, no longer new or fresh" from 1680s; meaning "inferior in quality" is from 1805. Figurative sense "contemptibly mean" is from 1670s. Related: Shabbily; shabbiness. Shabby-genteel "run-down but trying to keep up appearances, retaining in present shabbiness traces of former gentility," first recorded 1754. Related: Shabaroon "disreputable person," c.1700.
  • adj broken-down; in poor shape
  • adj despicable
Example sentences :
  • And while he slept the ground-squirrel ravaged the pockets of his shabby coat.
  • Extract from : « K » by Mary Roberts Rinehart
  • It had the well-worn look of an old coat, shabby but comfortable.
  • Extract from : « K » by Mary Roberts Rinehart
  • From the sounds, she judged that he was putting on his shabby gray coat.
  • Extract from : « K » by Mary Roberts Rinehart
  • The shabby bag between them attracted Gloria's curious gaze.
  • Extract from : « Gloria and Treeless Street » by Annie Hamilton Donnell
  • He wore, indeed, a shabby greenish-gray suit, and a flannel shirt.
  • Extract from : « The Coryston Family » by Mrs. Humphry Ward
  • You have to go to work, and it worries me terribly when I see you shabby.
  • Extract from : « People of Position » by Stanley Portal Hyatt
  • His clothes are shabby and neglected; he walks with a shuffling, tired movement.
  • Extract from : « Mountain Meditations » by L. Lind-af-Hageby
  • I open, and lo, a policeman in shabby uniform, makes inquiry about Khalid.
  • Extract from : « The Book of Khalid » by Ameen Rihani
  • Only your bits of shabby duds—that's all that pretty faces like yours wants.
  • Extract from : « A Son of Hagar » by Sir Hall Caine
  • In the shabby main room of that dwelling, Andre-Louis halted him again.
  • Extract from : « Scaramouche » by Rafael Sabatini

Synonyms for shabby

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019