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down-at-the-heels

[ doun-uht-thuh-heelz ]
/ ˈdaʊn ət ðəˈhilz /
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adjective
having a shabby, run-down appearance; seedy: He is rapidly becoming a down-at-the-heels drifter and a drunk.
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Also down-at-the-heel; down-at-heel [doun-uht-heel], /ˈdaʊn ət ˈhil/, down-at-heels .

Origin of down-at-the-heels

First recorded in 1695–1705

Words nearby down-at-the-heels

dowly, Dow metal, down, down-and-dirty, down-and-out, down-at-the-heels, down-ballot, downbeat, down-bow, downburst, down card
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Words related to down-at-the-heels

broken-down, crumbling, decrepit, derelict, deserted, desolate, dilapidated, dingy, neglected, ramshackle, rickety, seedy, tacky, crummy, decaying, grubby, scruffy, shabby, sleazy, squalid

How to use down-at-the-heels in a sentence

  • "Down-at-the-heels gentility gone into trade," smiled Marcia.

    Destiny|Charles Neville Buck

  • Mr. Howells has aptly described Hannibal as a "loafing, out-at-elbows, down-at-the-heels, slaveholding Mississippi river town."

    Mark Twain|Archibald Henderson
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