dog-eared

or dog·eared

[ dawg-eerd, dog- ]

adjective

1. having dog-ears:

   a dog-eared book.

2. shabby; worn:

   dog-eared furniture.

dog-eared

adjective

1. having dog-ears
2. shabby or worn

Word History and Origins

Origin of dog-eared¹

First recorded in 1775–85

Example Sentences

Still, one can easily envision hordes clutching their dog-eared paperbacks of Inferno straining to find the flag.

From The Daily Beast

It is, in short, the same old dog-eared Republican playbook with nary an acknowledgement that Obama just won reelection.

From The Daily Beast

Accusing Washington of failure to work properly is one of the most dog-eared pages in the political playbook.

From The Daily Beast

My father loved poetry and after his death I found several volumes, selectively dog-eared, with key parts underlined.

From The Daily Beast

Then, in Cashmere one day, I met a fellow in a caravan, with a dog-eared book in his pocket.

From Project Gutenberg

A full hour after Darby's departure I ventured to open the little dog-eared volume which he had thrown upon my table.

From Project Gutenberg

Rising, he went to a shelf of battered, dog-eared books, and taking down an armful proceeded to strew the volumes upon the table.

From Project Gutenberg

A turned-down page, it is perhaps a little too dog-eared to be read over again, but we all like to compare notes.

From Project Gutenberg

She hurried away to some outlying part of the house, reappearing in a few minutes with a dog-eared bundle of sheets in her hand.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• crummy
• decaying
• decrepit
• desolate
• dilapidated
• dingy
• pitiful
• ramshackle
• ratty
• rickety
• run down
• scruffy
• seedy
• shoddy
• squalid
• tacky
• tattered
• threadbare
• worn