shabbier; shabbiest
1
: clothed with worn or seedy garments
a shabby hobo
2
a
: threadbare and faded from wear
a shabby sofa
b
: ill-kept : dilapidated
a shabby neighborhood
3
a
: mean, despicable, contemptible
must feel shabby … because of his compromises—
Nat Hentoff
Nat Hentoff
b
: ungenerous, unfair
laments the shabby way in which this country often treated a poet—Paul Engle
Paul Engle
c
: inferior in quality
shabby reasoning
Examples of shabby in a Sentence
The furniture was old and shabby.
He wore a shabby coat.
Her first apartment was pretty shabby.
They complained about the shabby treatment they received at the hotel.
Backing out of the deal was a shabby thing to do.
Recent Examples on the Web
Not a shabby blast for a fashion mag right out of the starting gate, but then again, 72 isn’t just any mag.
—Guy Martin, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
Meg lived in a somewhat offbeat district, but the tall shabby houses, some of them painted in garish colours, were soon left behind and gave place to discreetly glistening cream or white facades behind one of which Leonora lived.
—Literary Hub, 15 Sep. 2025
The Packers' offense wasn't too shabby either.
—Robert Marvi, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Sep. 2025
Cillian Murphy plays the titular Steve, a beloved teacher at a controversial school that uses public funds to house violent and antisocial boys in a shabby old mansion.
—Richard Lawson, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shabby
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Guy Martin, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
Meg lived in a somewhat offbeat district, but the tall shabby houses, some of them painted in garish colours, were soon left behind and gave place to discreetly glistening cream or white facades behind one of which Leonora lived.
—Literary Hub, 15 Sep. 2025
The Packers' offense wasn't too shabby either.
—Robert Marvi, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Sep. 2025
Cillian Murphy plays the titular Steve, a beloved teacher at a controversial school that uses public funds to house violent and antisocial boys in a shabby old mansion.
—Richard Lawson, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shabby
Cite this Entry
“Shabby.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shabby. Accessed 20 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
shabby
adjective
shab·by
ˈshab-ē 
shabbier; shabbiest
1
: dressed in worn clothes
2
a
: worn and faded from wear
a shabby sofa
b
: ill kept : dilapidated
shabby houses
3
: not fair or generous
shabby treatment
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