threadbare

[thred-bair]

adjective

1. having the nap worn off so as to lay bare the threads of the warp and woof, as a fabric, garment, etc.

2. wearing threadbare clothes; shabby or poor.

   a threadbare old man.

3. meager, scanty, or poor.

   a threadbare emotional life.

4. hackneyed; trite; ineffectively stale.

   threadbare arguments.

threadbare

/ ˈθrɛdˌbɛə /

adjective

1. (of cloth, clothing, etc) having the nap worn off so that the threads are exposed

2. meagre or poor

   a threadbare existence

3. hackneyed

   a threadbare argument

4. wearing threadbare clothes; shabby

Other Word Forms

• threadbareness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of threadbare¹

First recorded in 1325–75, threadbare is from the Middle English word thredbare. See thread, bare ¹

Example Sentences

Years of squeezed spending in some areas leaving some parts of the public services threadbare.

Read more on BBC

The case against her was threadbare, a product of postwar rancor, false testimony and manipulative journalists who had preyed on her naivete.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

She mumbled her threadbare story about being the cousin of England’s queen, but her heart was not in it, and she fell silent.

Read more on Literature

It marks a difficult start for the conservative politician who ran on bold pledges of reviving the stagnant economy, overhauling the threadbare military and toughening immigration policy after years of drift under the previous government.

Read more on Barron's

Bringing my “whole self” to every moment left me threadbare.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• faded 
• ratty 
• scruffy 
• shabby 
• shopworn 
• tacky 
• tattered