tattered
Americanadjective
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ragged or worn
a tattered old book
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wearing ragged or torn clothing
tattered refugees
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damaged, defeated, or in disarray
he believes he can bring the tattered party together
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of tattered
Explanation
If something's tattered, it's worn ragged. You'll understand tattered if your dress has been dragging under your car for the last 100 miles. It will be a tattered mess. Tattered often applies to clothes. If you're a nice guy, you might give your coat to the homeless man with the coat that's so tattered it's threadbare and see-through. You can also use tattered figuratively, for something that's in shambles, like the tattered reputation you would have if you embezzled from your grandmother. The word tattered comes from Middle English, from a time when people wore clothing with decorative slashes, and apparently tatter originally meant "a scrap of cloth."
Vocabulary lists containing tattered
The Diary of Anne Frank
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Chains
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The Circuit
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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.
Tattered sweaters, linen T-shirts, parachute shirts and “bondage suits” are printed with slogans that read “Only anarchists are pretty” and “Anarchist punk gang.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026
Tattered curtains, matted carpets and missing shower heads were replaced.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 15, 2024
Tattered sandbags and piles of discarded barbed wire.
From New York Times • Feb. 15, 2023
Bainbridge Island author David Guterson remembered a 1994 book-signing of his novel “Snow Falling on Cedars” at The Tattered Cover in Denver — attended only by his brother Ben.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 27, 2023
Tattered gods slouching in their rags across the waste.
From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
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.
