down-at-the-heels

or down-at-the-heel

[doun-uh t-th uh-heelz or doun-uh t-th uh-heel]

adjective

of a shabby, run-down appearance; seedy: He is rapidly becoming a down-at-heel drifter and a drunk.

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 of down-at-the-heels

"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