down-at-the-heels
or down-at-the-heel
[doun-uh t-th uh-heelz or doun-uh t-th uh-heel]
- of a shabby, run-down appearance; seedy: He is rapidly becoming a down-at-heel drifter and a drunk.
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Also down-at-heel, down-at-heels.
Origin of down-at-the-heels
First recorded in 1695–1705
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for down-at-the-heels
Historical Examples
"Down-at-the-heels gentility gone into trade," smiled Marcia.
DestinyCharles Neville Buck
Mr. Howells has aptly described Hannibal as a "loafing, out-at-elbows, down-at-the-heels, slaveholding Mississippi river town."
Mark TwainArchibald Henderson