Word.ws English Dictionary

motheaten

motheaten is the alternative form of moth-eaten.

Meaning of moth-eaten

Adjective

moth-eaten (comparative more moth-eaten, superlative most moth-eaten)

  1. Containing holes by having been eaten by moth larvae.
  2. (figuratively) Old and in poor condition; worn-out.
    • "A bit moth-eaten, aren't they?" he said doubtfully. "I mean to say, bumpy in the springs and all that." "Oh, of course, I'd have them resprung and fresh covers made if you bought them."1950, Norman Lindsay, Dust or Polish?, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 72
  3. (figuratively) Antiquated; having been in use a long time.
    • ‘It’s got a file and rope ladder in it and if you was a bit older I’d make you eat them both raw for trying to put such a moth-eaten old wheeze over on me.’1936, Norman Lindsay, The Flyaway Highway, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 90

Forms of motheaten

comparativemore motheaten
superlativemost motheaten

Questions about motheaten

What is motheaten the alternative form of?
Motheaten is the alternative form of moth-eaten.

Words near motheaten in the dictionary

  1. mothballers
  2. mothballing
  3. mothballings
  4. mothballs
  5. mothbally
  6. motheaten
  7. mothed
  8. mother
  9. mother abscess
  10. mother abscesses
  11. mother and baby unit

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: motheaten (page history and authors); moth-eaten (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “motheaten.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/motheaten. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.