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

• tattily
  adverb
• tattiness
  noun

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

As soon as Williams ascends to a new height of fame, it begins to look tatty.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 24, 2024

She said the 100-page book "is like a faded souvenir, tatty but treasurable for its associations with the fabulous imaginary world that Márquez conjured up in his prime".

From BBC • Mar. 6, 2024

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

"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

She was reading her tatty copy of Vogue with intense interest.

From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath