threadbare

Meaning

1. Of cloth, clothing, furnishings, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show; shabby, worn-out.
2. (figuratively) In poor condition; damaged, shabby; also, poorly equipped or provided for, inadequate, meagre, scanty.
3. (figuratively) Of an argument, excuse, etc.: used so often that it is no longer effective or interesting; banal, clichéd, trite.
4. (figuratively) An argument or assertion with little in the way of substance or supporting evidence.
5. (archaic, obsolete) Of a person: wearing clothes of threadbare (sense 1) material; hence, impoverished, poor.

Opposite of

fresh, old, impoverished, poor

Synonyms

shabby

ragged

trite

worn

shopworn

well-worn

commonplace

tattered

hackneyed

timeworn

old-hat

tired

😫

worn out

banal

seedy

worn-out

run-down

frayed

stale

stock

decrepit

torn

dilapidated

platitudinous

battered

old

🧓

time-worn

used up

weak

slummy

worn through

obsolete article

overworn

prosaical

trito

shoddy

ancient

antiquated

attrited

brittle

bromidic

careworn

cast-off

elapsed

eroded

fragile

mangled

marred

moth-eaten

niggardly

Translations

fadenscheinig

banale

logoro

banal

élimé

râpé

raído

trito

usé

ξεφτισμένος

rebattu

frusto

trito e ritrito

banal

τετριμμένος

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈθɹɛdbɛə/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: thred-bar

Inherited from Old English: þrǣd

Inherited from Old English: bær

In summary

PIE word
*bʰosós
From Middle English thred-bar, thred-bare (“of cloth, clothing, etc.: worn to such an extent that the warp and weft threads show, shabby, worn-out; (figurative) inadequate, poor”) [and other forms], from thred (“piece of textile twine”) (from Old English þrǣd (“thread”), from Proto-Germanic *þrēduz (“thread; twisted fibre”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to drill, pierce; to rub; to turn, twist”)) + bar, bare (“naked, unclothed, bare; not covered”) (from Old English bær (“naked, bare; unconcealed”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *bazaz (“naked, bare”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰosós (“bare; barefoot”)). The English word is analysable as thread + bare.