shabby

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Worn out, untidy, or in poor condition because of age or neglect.

   They lived in a tiny flat with old, shabby furniture.

2. 2
   adj

   Unfair or mean in the way someone is treated.

   It was shabby treatment after all his years of loyal service.

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”)

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