tatty

¹ American  

[tat-ee] / ˈtæt i /

adjective

tattier, tattiest

1. cheap or tawdry; vulgar.

   a tatty production of a Shakespearean play.

2. shabby or ill-kempt; ragged; untidy.

   an old house with dirty windows and tatty curtains.

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tatty ² American  

[tat-ee] / ˈtæt i /

Or tattie

noun

tatties plural

1. (in India) a screen, usually made of coarse, fragrant fibers, placed over a window or door and kept moistened with water in order to cool and deodorize the room.

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tatty British  

/ ˈtætɪ /

adjective

1. worn out, shabby, tawdry, or unkempt

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• tattiness
  noun
• tattily
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• tatties
  plural

Etymology

Origin of tatty¹

1505–15; tat rag (probably back formation from tatter ¹ ) + -y ¹

Origin of tatty²

First recorded in 1785–95, tatty is from the Hindi word ṭaṭṭī

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tatty tatties

Look closely, and the beggar’s left hand has disappeared, tucked inside the placket of his tatty jacket.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2023

If, as he spends the book insisting, all he and Meghan ever wanted was domestic simplicity — tatty sofas, Ikea lamps — then why, upon leaving the family, did they buy a $15 million house?

From Washington Post ● Jan. 13, 2023

We know that actors are not their roles, but it still came as a shock to see Angela Lansbury backstage in bunny slippers and a tatty robe, offering visitors a nice hot cuppa.

From New York Times ● Oct. 12, 2022

"Noone can stop them," mused Fane on Gran Canaria island where colourful, abandoned migrant boats contain tatty shoes, sardine tins, plastic bottles and a life vest.

From Reuters ● Aug. 11, 2022

A crude pair of salt-dice and a single, tatty shoe that was too small for me, but that I hoped to trade for something else.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

Meals include beef chilli, Thai red curry, and haggis, neeps and tatties - with the hope of adding fresh fish caught at sea.

From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2025

Yes, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Arnold Palmer tucked in a bib and tucked into the haggis, accompanied by neeps and tatties, cute Scottish names for turnips and potatoes, mashed and buttered.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 15, 2025

The “Haggis, Neeps & Tatties” — neeps and tatties are turnips and potatoes and haggis is, well, a lot of things — gets a rating of 3.4.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 6, 2021

Food on board will feature the best of Scottish cuisine including plates of smoked venison and haggis, neeps and tatties, as well an improved range of whiskies.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 27, 2019

It’s all very tidy and pretty in a wifely way, but she’ll have dug up her geraniums to plant tatties for the War Effort.

From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein