tatty

1
[ tat-ee ]
See synonyms for tatty on Thesaurus.com
adjective,tat·ti·er, tat·ti·est.
  1. cheap or tawdry; vulgar: a tatty production of a Shakespearean play.

  2. shabby or ill-kempt; ragged; untidy: an old house with dirty windows and tatty curtains.

Origin of tatty

1
1505–15; tat rag (probably back formation from tatter1) + -y1

Other words from tatty

  • tat·ti·ly, adverb
  • tat·ti·ness, noun

Words Nearby tatty

Other definitions for tatty (2 of 2)

tatty2

or tat·tie

[ tat-ee ]

noun,plural tat·ties.
  1. (in India) a screen, usually made of coarse, fragrant fibers, placed over a window or door and kept moistened with water in order to cool and deodorize the room.

Origin of tatty

2
First recorded in 1785–95, tatty is from the Hindi word ṭaṭṭī

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use tatty in a sentence

  • Amidst the detritus of old amplifiers, beaten up electric guitars and drum kits was a tatty white plastic bag.

    The Lost Madonna Tapes | Andrew Morton | October 20, 2008 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • Titty and tatty are among the many rhyming compounds of which the meaning is no longer clear.

  • "Titty Mouse and tatty Mouse" also ends in a universal calamity which seems to arise from a cause of no great importance.

  • Titty Mouse gleaned an ear of corn, and tatty Mouse gleaned an ear of corn.

    English Fairy Tales | Flora Annie Steel
  • But when Titty went to put hers in, the pot tumbled over, and scalded her to death, and tatty sat down and wept.

    English Fairy Tales | Flora Annie Steel
  • Titty Mouse went a-gleaning, and tatty Mouse went a-gleaning.

    English Fairy Tales | Flora Annie Steel

British Dictionary definitions for tatty

tatty

/ (ˈtætɪ) /


adjective-tier or -tiest
  1. mainly British worn out, shabby, tawdry, or unkempt

Origin of tatty

1
C16: of Scottish origin, probably related to Old English tættec a tatter

Derived forms of tatty

  • tattily, adverb
  • tattiness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012