shabby

Syllables: shab·byUK/ˈʃæbi/

shabby adjective: of clothing, a place, etc.: unkempt and worn or otherwise in poor condition due to age or neglect; scruffy.

Adjective

shabby (comparative shabbier, superlative shabbiest)

Of clothing, a place, etc.: unkempt and worn or otherwise in poor condition due to age or neglect; scruffy.
- They lived in a tiny apartment, with some old, shabby furniture.
- [A]s there was a stream of people pouring into a shabby house not far from the entrance, he waited until they had made their way in, […]1838 March – 1839 October, Charles Dickens, “Nicholas seeks to employ himself in a New Capacity, and being unsuccessful, accepts an engagement as Tutor in a Private Family”, in The Life and...
Synonyms:

decrepit, moth-eaten, run-down, timeworn, tired, tacky, clapped out, damaged, defective, deteriorated
Of a person: wearing ragged or very worn, and often dirty, clothing.
- The fellow arrived looking rather shabby after journeying so far.
- The ſame gentleman, vvhenever he vvanted credit for a ſuit of cloaths, alvvays made the propoſal in a laced coat; for he found by experience, that, if he appeared ſhabby on theſe occaſions, his taylor had taken an oath againſt truſting; […]1765, [Oliver] Goldsmith, “Essay V”, in Essays. […], London: […] W[illiam] Griffin […], →OCLC, page 37
(figuratively) Of a person, their behaviour, etc.: despicable, mean; also, not generous; stingy, tight-fisted.
- shabby treatment
- "A thousand dollars are money, my father used to say when he drove fat oxen to market," replied John Wilde, in a mocking tone; "but it will not leave my hands for that shabby price; and, for my own part, it may ornament the foot of my daughter's doll."1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 316
Synonyms:

ungenerous, as tight as Dick's hatband, cheap, cheeseparing, chintzy, close, close as wax, close-fisted, illiberal, mean
(figuratively, often in the negative) Poor in quality; also, showing little effort or talent.
- His painting is not too shabby.
- [M]y Lord Duke's entertainments were both ſeldom and ſhabby […]1852, William Makepeace Thackeray, “The Campaign of 1707, 1708”, in The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. […] , volume II, London: […] Smith, Elder, & Company, […], →OCLC, page 252
1. (archaic, figuratively, often in the negative) Of the pulse: thready, weak.
2. (UK, dialectal, figuratively, informal, often in the negative) Of weather: wet and dreary.
3. (UK, dialectal, figuratively, often in the negative) Chiefly of sheep: affected by shab or scab (“a skin disease”); scabby.

Verb

shabby (third-person singular simple present shabbies, present participle shabbying, simple past and past participle shabbied)

(transitive) To make (something) shabby (adjective sense 1); to shabbify.
(intransitive) To become shabby; to shabbify.
- You'll be one of those tough, square, solid middle-aged men, like a shabbying brown bear, your golden crew-cut greying judiciously at the temples.1962, Doris Lessing, “The Golden Notebook”, in The Golden Notebook (Flamingo Modern Classics), London: Flamingo, HarperCollinsPublishers, published 1993, →ISBN, page 544

shabby meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

shabby in Hindi

shabby, slovenly, uncouth: भस्सड़ bhassaṛ
shabby, dirty: लीचड़ līcaṛ

shabby in Tamil

அருவருப்புத் தருகிற, இழிதகைமையான, கீழ்த்தரமான, தாழ்ந்த, கிழிந்து போன, கந்தலான

shabby in Bengali

জীর্ণ, নোংরা, হীন

More languagesFewer languages

shabby in Malayalam: മുഷിഞ്ഞ, വൃത്തികേടായ, ക്ഷുദ്രമായ, പ്രാകൃതമായ
shabby in Kannada: ಹರುಕಲಾದ, ಕೊಳೆಯಾದ, ಹಾಳುಬಿದ್ದ, ನಾಚುಗೆಯ
shabby in Arabic: بَالٍ bālin

Examples of shabby in a sentence

And here was a shabby little old book, such as, if it had been commonplace, would not have been likely to be the companion of a young lady at the bottom of a quarry— […]1867, George MacDonald, “The Bishop’s Basin”, in Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood […], volume I, London: Hurst and Blackett, publishers...
Despite a vast change from crowded slums to tracts of wasteland, due to its grim wartime experience, this approach still provides a shabby and unworthy introduction to the great capital.1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 703:
She told her name, and vvas ſhevvn, by a little ſhabby foot-boy, into a parlour.1782, [Frances Burney], “A Man of Wealth”, in Cecilia, or Memoirs of an Heiress. […], volume I, London: […] T[homas] Payne and Son […], and...
He was an affectionate brother, always glad to do a good turn to his sisters—who lived with a shabby old half-pay father, […]1882, [Mary Elizabeth Braddon], “And Pale from the Past We Draw Nigh to Thee”, in Mount Royal […], volume II, London: John and Robert...

All 40 example sentences with shabby

Synonyms of shabby

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of shabby

Forms of shabby

Adjective
comparative	shabbier
superlative	shabbiest
Verb
third-person singular present	shabbies
present participle	shabbying
past participle	shabbied
past	shabbied

Origin of shabby

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”)

Words formed from shabby

Words that rhyme with shabby

7 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about shabby

What does shabby mean?: Shabby means of clothing, a place, etc.: unkempt and worn or otherwise in poor condition due to age or neglect; scruffy.
What is shabby in Hindi?: Shabby in Hindi is भस्सड़ (bhassaṛ), लीचड़ (līcaṛ). See Shabby meaning in Hindi.
How do you use shabby in a sentence?: And here was a shabby little old book, such as, if it had been commonplace, would not have been likely to be the companion of a young lady at the bottom of a quarry— […]
What part of speech is shabby?: Shabby can be an adjective or a verb.
How do you pronounce shabby?: Shabby is pronounced /ˈʃæbi/ (UK).

Words near shabby in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: shabby (page history and authors); भस्सड़ (Hindi) (page history and authors); shabby (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); shabby (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); shabby (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); shabby (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); shabby (Kannada Wiktionary) (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: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-shabby.ogg.

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