Shabby

//ˈʃæbi// adj, verb, slang

adj, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To make (something) shabby (adjective adjective sense 1); to shabbify. transitive
  2. 2
    To become shabby; to shabbify. intransitive

    "You'll be one of those tough, square, solid middle-aged men, like a shabbying brown bear, your golden crew-cut greying judiciously at the temples."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of clothing, a place, etc.: unkempt and worn or otherwise in poor condition due to age or neglect; scruffy.

    "They lived in a tiny apartment, with some old, shabby furniture."

  2. 2
    Of a person: wearing ragged or very worn, and often dirty, clothing.

    "The fellow arrived looking rather shabby after journeying so far."

  3. 3
    Of a person, their behaviour, etc.: despicable, mean; also, not generous; stingy, tight-fisted. figuratively

    "shabby treatment"

  4. 4
    Poor in quality; also, showing little effort or talent. figuratively

    "His painting is not too shabby."

  5. 5
    Poor in quality; also, showing little effort or talent.; Of the pulse: thready, weak. archaic, figuratively
Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    Poor in quality; also, showing little effort or talent.; Of weather: wet and dreary. UK, dialectal, figuratively, informal
  2. 7
    Poor in quality; also, showing little effort or talent.; Chiefly of sheep: affected by shab or scab (“a skin disease”); scabby. UK, dialectal, figuratively
Adjective
  1. 1
    mean and unworthy and despicable wordnet
  2. 2
    showing signs of wear and tear wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
dishonorabletattyabandonedabjectabominablearrant

Antonyms

All antonyms
sharp

Example

More examples

"Apparently that shabby flat is vacant."

Etymology

The adjective is derived from shab (“(obsolete except UK, dialectal) scaly skin disease; skin disease of sheep; crust forming over wound, scab”) + -y (suffix meaning ‘having the quality of’ forming adjectives). The verb is derived from the adjective. Cognates * Dutch schabbig (“poor, needy, shabby”) * Middle High German schebic (modern German schäbig (“shabby”)) * Middle Low German schabbich (“miserable”) (modern Low German schabbig, schäbbig) * Scots shabby (“in poor health, ill”) * Swedish sjabbig (“shabby, mangy, scruffy”), skabbig (“scabby”)

Related phrases

shabby chicshabby-genteel

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.