shabby-genteel

American  

[shab-ee-jen-teel] / ˈʃæb i dʒɛnˈtil /

adjective

1. trying to maintain dignity and self-respect despite shabbiness.

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shabby-genteel British  

adjective

1. preserving or aspiring to the forms and manners of gentility despite appearing shabby

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Other Word Forms

• shabby-gentility
  noun

Etymology

Origin of shabby-genteel

First recorded in 1745–55

Example Sentences

Smith writes about yardbird intellects, refugees from good taste and urban ease; her characters are shabby-genteel with the gentility knob turned down pretty low.

From New York Times • Aug. 17, 2020

Many say they want a new hotel, but that the proposed resort is too big and fancy for Harpers Ferry, whose shabby-genteel charm has changed little in the last 60 years.

From Washington Post • Feb. 16, 2020

A tall, red-nosed shabby-genteel man in a threadbare black coat enters the room and, pointing to each item of furniture, mutters: "Mine".

From BBC • Dec. 13, 2013

The chill in her eyes doesn’t prevent the frustrated men on a shabby-genteel estate from falling foolishly, hopelessly in love with her Yelena, the lethally bored wife of a boorish academic.

From BusinessWeek • Aug. 11, 2011

But this part of the city is no longer flat, dowdy, shabby-genteel.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood