adjective
shabby
SHA-bee
adjective
1
Worn out or in poor condition from age or neglect.
"The hotel lobby looked shabby, with peeling paint and stained carpets."
"He wore a shabby old coat that had seen better days."
2
Unfair, mean, or ungenerous in behavior.
"It was a shabby way to treat someone who had worked for the company for decades."
How to Use Shabby
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishWorn-out and neglected-looking, or (of behavior) mean-spirited and unfair.
Common pairings
shabby clothes
shabby treatment
shabby chic
Word Forms
shabbier comparative, shabbied past tense, shabbies singular, shabbiest superlative
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The hotel lobby looked _____, with peeling paint and stained carpets.
Etymology
From the old word shab, meaning a skin disease or scabby crust, plus the suffix -y.