shabby
adjective
impaired by wear, use, etc.; worn.
shabbiness
-
a word derived from
shabby.
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.
The film follows an English family between the world wars and emphasizes the dull shabbiness of the setting’s middle-class life, the house and costumes coming in every shade of brown.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
The beauties are the glamor routes, the passenger trains that, whatever shabbiness may have befallen their interiors, more than make up for it with the grandeur of what lies outside their windows.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2023
There were plenty of interesting design twists: One jean jacket in Japanese denim had a regal stiffness, which nicely contrasting with the shabbiness of one of its breast pockets being missing.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 24, 2022
You could call this camp heaven, and indeed “Lily Dare,” a Primary Stages production, offers both the euphoria and the shabbiness that term can suggest.
From New York Times ● Jan. 29, 2020
The paint was peeling on buildings, the streets pitted with potholes, and the whole estate resigned to its own shabbiness.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
