moth-eaten
Americanadjective
-
eaten or damaged by or as if by the larvae of moths.
-
decayed or worn out.
-
out of fashion; antiquated.
adjective
-
decayed, decrepit, or outdated
-
eaten away by or as if by moths
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of moth-eaten
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400
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.
Edith Wharton is a moth-eaten gown in the musty attic of American literature.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 5, 2026
We’re more taken by the scenes in which her father, Stellan Skarsgård’s faded filmmaker Gustav, dusts off his moth-eaten charisma to charm Elle Fanning’s Hollywood starlet into doing his new project.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 22, 2026
The curtain your brother is hiding behind is moth-eaten and flimsy.
From MarketWatch • Nov. 11, 2025
After about four hours, he found his name on the last page of a moth-eaten book.
From BBC • May 29, 2023
Hawkers, girls much younger than I, defied the school gate men, edging closer and closer to the cars to offer peeled oranges and bananas and groundnuts, their moth-eaten blouses slipping off their shoulders.
From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
