threadbare
Americanadjective
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having the nap worn off so as to lay bare the threads of the warp and woof, as a fabric, garment, etc.
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wearing threadbare clothes; shabby or poor.
a threadbare old man.
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meager, scanty, or poor.
a threadbare emotional life.
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hackneyed; trite; ineffectively stale.
threadbare arguments.
adjective
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(of cloth, clothing, etc) having the nap worn off so that the threads are exposed
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meagre or poor
a threadbare existence
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hackneyed
a threadbare argument
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wearing threadbare clothes; shabby
Other Word Forms
- threadbareness noun
Etymology
Origin of threadbare
First recorded in 1325–75, threadbare is from the Middle English word thredbare. See thread, bare 1
Explanation
Those jeans you wear every day that have holes in the knees and thin patches in the rear? They're threadbare. Threadbare means "thin from overuse." Furniture, clothing, or a rug is threadbare if the fabric is thin and worn through. If your father tells the same jokes over and over again, you might accuse him of having a threadbare sense of humor. A friend who chooses to live a threadbare lifestyle doesn't have a lot of things, and what they do have is not in the best of shape. When you see this word, picture your childhood stuffed animal with the fur rubbed thin from too much cuddling.
Vocabulary lists containing threadbare
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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The Great Gatsby
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List 4
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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.
"The farmers are the poorest people in Ivory Coast," he added, showing his threadbare clothes.
From Barron's • Jan. 26, 2026
Lately, it seems, the risk-averse screenwriting rules of what-should-happen-by-which-page that have steered Hollywood movies for far too long are feeling especially threadbare.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 12, 2025
Bringing my “whole self” to every moment left me threadbare.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 6, 2025
Wednesday are second bottom of the Championship with six points from nine games after a torrid period off the field has left them with a threadbare squad.
From BBC • Oct. 16, 2025
In Mercerism, an absolute evil plucked at the threadbare cloak of the tottering, ascending old man, but it was never clear who or what this evil presence was.
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
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.
