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

He was being used as an emergency striker with Isak an outcast, so how can Howe contemplate a sale when resources are now so threadbare?

From BBC

The talk of “crime” is even more threadbare than the usual right-wing pretexts.

From Salon

Now the Trojans enter his fourth with a raw, unproven commodity at quarterback, a threadbare linebacker room, and an inexperienced offensive line that could already be down a projected starter.

From Los Angeles Times

Yet another U turn was sanctioned, leaving his plans appearing threadbare, shorn of their central pillars of just a week ago.

From BBC

Given that a digital camera is now in most every pocket, queer photography’s bracing fusion of the personal and the exotic is pretty threadbare, since exoticism no longer applies to being queer in American life.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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