shabby

Meaning

Adj

1. Of clothing, a place, etc.: unkempt and worn or otherwise in poor condition due to age or neglect; scruffy.
2. Of a person: wearing ragged or very worn, and often dirty, clothing.
3. (figuratively) Of a person, their behaviour, etc.: despicable, mean; also, not generous; stingy, tight-fisted.
4. (figuratively) Poor in quality; also, showing little effort or talent.
5. (archaic, figuratively) Poor in quality; also, showing little effort or talent.
6. (UK, dialectal, figuratively, informal) Poor in quality; also, showing little effort or talent.
7. (UK, dialectal, figuratively) Poor in quality; also, showing little effort or talent.

Verb

1. (transitive) To make (something) shabby (adjective sense 1); to shabbify.
2. (intransitive) To become shabby; to shabbify.

Synonyms

seedy

ragged

dilapidated

mean

threadbare

worn-out

poor

shoddy

tatty

frayed

tattered

worn

slovenly

tumbledown

ramshackle

scruffy

cheap

vulgar

mangy

wretched

ratty

destroyed

despicable

squalid

tacky

damaged

run-down

humble

rickety

ruined

ignoble

worn out

broken

base

miserable

vile

dowdy

dreary

sordid

decayed

sloppy

battered

sleazy

unclean

hangdog

greedy

scurvy

beat-up

old

🧓

dirty

Translations

schäbig

miteux

heruntergekommen

abgetragen

élimé

logoro

armselig

gastado

raído

mesquin

usé

râpé

cistite

schäbige

minable

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈʃæbi/

Etymology

Cognate with Dutch: schabbig

Cognate with Middle High German: schebic

Cognate with German: schäbig

Cognate with Middle Low German: schabbich

Cognate with Low German: schabbig

Cognate with Scots: shabby

Cognate with Swedish: sjabbig

In summary

The adjective is derived from shab (“(obsolete except UK, dialectal) scaly skin disease; skin disease of sheep; crust forming over wound, scab”) + -y (suffix meaning ‘having the quality of’ forming adjectives).
The verb is derived from the adjective.
Cognates
* Dutch schabbig (“poor, needy, shabby”)
* Middle High German schebic (modern German schäbig (“shabby”))
* Middle Low German schabbich (“miserable”) (modern Low German schabbig, schäbbig)
* Scots shabby (“in poor health, ill”)
* Swedish sjabbig (“shabby, mangy, scruffy”), skabbig (“scabby”)