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draggle-tailed

American  
[drag-uhl-tayld] / ˈdræg əlˌteɪld /

adjective

  1. untidy; bedraggled; slovenly.


Etymology

Origin of draggle-tailed

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


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

It was repeated in the draggle-tailed flight of the crippled Strasbourg to Toulon, in the smashed hulks of four other men-of-war, in the sullen disarmament of the French squadron under British guns in Alexandria's harbor.

From Time Magazine Archive

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

From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers

A cloak will partake of the very soul and conscience of its owner; become draggle-tailed, flaunting, effeminate, masterful, pompous, or dignified.

From English Costume by Dion Clayton Calthrop

The heel of a boot had trodden 176upon and partly obliterated the writing, the ink having run, and the whole appearance of the document being somewhat draggle-tailed.

From The Dew of Their Youth by S. R. (Samuel Rutherford) Crockett

“Why, that’s the draggle-tailed lightnin’-bug that set this fire that we’ve been fightin’ for forty-eight hours, and that only this rain stopped from bein’ a fifty-thousand-acre crown-fire!

From King Spruce, A Novel by Holman Day

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