draggle-tailed

[drag-uhl-teyld]

adjective

1. untidy; bedraggled; slovenly.

Word History and Origins

Origin of draggle-tailed¹

First recorded in 1645–55; draggle-tail + -ed ³

Example Sentences

They were all dirty and in plain shorts or draggle-tailed knickers or old everyday dresses.

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“Oh, one got rusty and the other draggle-tailed, I suppose,” he said.

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A shamefaced, miserable, draggle-tailed crew they looked, as, one after the other, under the policeman's cold official glance, they took their boxes out into the street.

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The next figure is that of a draggle-tailed bawler of dying speeches, horrid murders, elegies, &c.

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A tired, working woman, draggle-tailed, Came in, harsh-featured in the yellow glare Of electricity; an urchin trailed Clumsily after her, with towsled hair, And sharp, pale features, and a vacant stare, And in her arms she bore another child.

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