adjective
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ragged or worn
a tattered old book
-
wearing ragged or torn clothing
tattered refugees
-
damaged, defeated, or in disarray
he believes he can bring the tattered party together
Other Word Forms
- untattered adjective
Etymology
Origin of tattered
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.
As their last act, they lowered and packed the ship’s tattered American flag.
From Literature
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The woman took stock of my tattered clothes and overall filthiness.
From Literature
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He wrote a 12-book series around the character, a British soldier who returns to Cornwall from the American War of Independence and rebuilds his tattered estate, reopens his father's derelict mine and finds love.
From BBC
In “Vaccine Flag,” a vertical banner arcs gracefully across a soft gradient of L.A. haze, but the banner’s fabric is so tattered and decayed that its advertisement for vaccines is barely legible.
From Los Angeles Times
Near the door sat a huge chair covered with a pile of tattered quilts.
From Literature
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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.