tatty
adjEtymology From tatter + -y.
1
Tattered; dilapidated, distressed, worn-out, torn.
- The tramp wore a tatty old overcoat.
- I wish you would have smiled in the bakery Or sat on a tatty settee At a mutual friend's gathering2007, Arctic Monkeys, “The Bakery”, in Fluorescent Adolescent:
2 more examples
- I have arrived to catch the 0830 TfW service to Crewe, worked by a tatty and unrefurbished 175114. As if ashamed of its appearance, it slinks into Platform 2 (instead of Platform 1, where it was expected). No announcement had been made, and we leave without any fanfare.2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 67:
- Hubbard says he could easily take on more books than he would be able to sell, and some “tatty paperbacks” have such a low value that they end up getting recycled.2025 July 22, Lucy Knight, “‘Look how well-read I am!’ How ‘books by the metre’ add the final touch to your home – or your image”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
- Related terms
- tatterdemalionism, tatteredness