fleabag

[flee-bag]

noun

Slang.

1. a cheap, run-down hotel or rooming house.

2. any shabby or low-grade public establishment.

3. a worthless racehorse.

4. a dog, especially one that is flea-ridden.

5. a bed.

6. a sleeping bag.

fleabag

/ ˈfliːˌbæɡ /

noun

1. a dirty or unkempt person

2. a cheap or dirty hotel

Word History and Origins

Origin of fleabag¹

First recorded in 1825–35; flea + bag

Example Sentences

Gi-hun, meanwhile, is living like a pauper, holed up in an empty fleabag hotel he owns and refusing to spend any of the fortune he’d won on himself.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Mr. Blake received an Emmy in 1975 for outstanding lead actor in “Baretta,” about a detective who lived a fleabag life and relied on clever disguises to solve crimes.

Read more on Washington Post

The Berkeley Inn, known to Geyer’s generation as a fleabag hotel, once stood on the parcel of land.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

A couple of the fleabags closed not long after.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

He was also based in a "fleabag office" in a rough part of town.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• hostel 
• house 
• inn 
• lodging 
• motel 
• resort 
• tavern