Shabby

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈʃæb.i/
• Rhymes: -æbi

Origin

From shab("scab") + -y, or directly from an alteration of scabby. Cognate with Scots shabby ("in poor health, ill"), Dutch schabbig ("poor, needy, shabby"), Middle Low German schabbich ("miserable"), German schäbig ("shabby"), Swedish skabbig ("scabby"), Swedish sjabbig ("shabby, mangy, scruffy").

Full definition of shabby

Adjective

1. Torn or worn; poor; mean; ragged.
• 1905, w, w:The Case of Miss Elliott Chapter 2, Miss Phyllis Morgan, as the hapless heroine dressed in the shabbiest of clothes, appears in the midst of a gay and giddy throng; she apostrophises all and sundry there, including the villain, and has a magnificent scene which always brings down the house, and nightly adds to her histrionic laurels.
2. They lived in a tiny apartment, with some old, shabby furniture.
3. Clothed with ragged, much worn, or soiled garments.The fellow arrived looking rather shabby after journeying so far.
4. Mean; paltry; despicable.shabby treatment