tatterdemalion

/tætədəˈmeɪliɒn/

tatterdemalion adjective: tattered.

Adjective

tatterdemalion (comparative more tatterdemalion, superlative most tatterdemalion)

Tattered.
- The house, on his arrival, seemed in some confusion, as if a catastrophe had happened in the family; and the servants clustered together in the hall, and were unable, or perhaps not altogether anxious, to suppress their merriment at the tatterdemalion figure of the secretary.1878 June–October, Robert Louis Stevenson, “[The Rajah’s Diamond.] Story of the Bandbox.”, in New Arabian Nights […], volume I, London: Chatto & Windus, […], published 1882, →OCLC, page 174
- For the same reason the kings of Europe could not resist the tatterdemalion soldiers of the Convention.1913 [1912], Bernard Miall, transl., The Psychology of Revolution, New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, translation of La Révolution Française et la Psychologie des Révolutions by Gustave Le Bon, page 18
Synonyms:

shabby, tacky, scroungy, mean, beat, beat up, beaten up, bedraggled, broken-down, crumbling

Noun

tatterdemalion (plural tatterdemalions)

A person with tattered clothing.
- […] we haue ordeined that through euery ward […] there be erected one sound, sufficient, and well painted whipping poste, the very sight of which wil not only scarre them, worse then the scowting face of a Serieant being seen peeping through a red lettice, frights a yong gallant, but also in time...1606, Thomas Dekker, The Seven Deadly Sinnes of London, London: Nathaniel Butter
- St. Martin [of Tours] looks round, first, deliberately;—becomes aware of a tatterdemalion and thirsty-looking soul of a beggar at his chair side, who has managed to get his cup filled somehow, also—by a charitable lacquey. St. Martin turns his back on the Empress, and hobnobs with him!1884, John Ruskin, “By the Rivers of Waters”, in “Our Fathers Have Told Us.”: Sketches of the History of Christendom for Boys and Girls who have been Held at Its Fonts, part I (The Bible of Amiens)...
Synonyms:

ragamuffin

tatterdemalion meaning in Tamil and Bengali

tatterdemalion in Tamil

கந்தல், கந்தை அணிந்தவன், அழுக்கன், சுத்தமற்றவன், அழுக்கான, கந்தலணிந்த

Examples of tatterdemalion in a sentence

Thus, too, we have the woman social reformer, trailing along ridiculously behind a tatterdemalion posse of male utopians, each with something to sell.1918, H. L. Mencken, In Defense of Women:
She received visits that were a scandal to the Crescent, and Hyacinth neglected his affairs, whatever they were, to see what tatterdemalion would next turn up at her door.1886, Henry James, The Princess Casamassima, London: Macmillan and Co.:
For cowherds! tatterdemalions! [translating va-nu-pieds]1886, Gustave Flaubert, chapter VIII, in Eleanor Marx-Aveling, transl., Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners […], London: Vizetelly & Co....
Virtue rendered these tatterdemalions resplendent.1887, Isabel F. Hapgood, transl., Les Misérables, translation of original by Victor Hugo:

Synonyms of tatterdemalion

11 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of tatterdemalion

Forms of tatterdemalion

Adjective
comparative	more tatterdemalion
superlative	most tatterdemalion
Noun
plural	tatterdemalions

Origin of tatterdemalion

First attested circa 1608. An early spelling was tatter-de-mallion, rhymed with Italian. The first part of the word is tatter; the origin of the second part is uncertain; Ebenezer Cobham Brewer suggested it might be from de maillot (“shirt”).

Words formed from tatterdemalion

tatterdemalionism

Questions about tatterdemalion

What does tatterdemalion mean?: Tatterdemalion means tattered.
What is tatterdemalion in Tamil?: Tatterdemalion in Tamil is கந்தல், கந்தை அணிந்தவன், அழுக்கன். See Tatterdemalion meaning in Tamil.
How do you use tatterdemalion in a sentence?: Thus, too, we have the woman social reformer, trailing along ridiculously behind a tatterdemalion posse of male utopians, each with something to sell.
What part of speech is tatterdemalion?: Tatterdemalion can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce tatterdemalion?: Tatterdemalion is pronounced /tætədəˈmeɪliɒn/ (UK).

Words near tatterdemalion in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: tatterdemalion (page history and authors); tatterdemalion (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); tatterdemalion (Bengali 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

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