down-at-the-heels

American  

[doun-uht-thuh-heelz] / ˈdaʊn ət ðəˈhilz /

Also down-at-the-heel;

adjective

1. having a shabby, run-down appearance; seedy.

   He is rapidly becoming a down-at-the-heels drifter and a drunk.

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Etymology

Origin of down-at-the-heels

First recorded in 1695–1705

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

down-at-the-heels

Dee, 52, bought the down-at-the-heels house from the city in 2013 for $16,650.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 4, 2022

I met up with Brown again for breakfast one summer morning last year in Southend-on-Sea, a down-at-the-heels resort town about forty miles east of London.

From The New Yorker ● Sep. 30, 2019

It was a Marriott or something but it had a funny, down-at-the-heels feel.

From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2018

Howard Rumsey, a bass player who turned a down-at-the-heels sailors’ hangout in Hermosa Beach, Calif., into ground zero for West Coast jazz, died July 15 in Newport Beach, Calif. He was 97.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 27, 2015

I hate to be unkind, but the hotel is a bit down-at-the-heels.

From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin