threadbare
/ˈθɹɛdˌbɛ(ə)ɹ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.43 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Of cloth, clothing, furnishings, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show; shabby, worn-out.
adj
In poor condition; damaged, shabby; also, poorly equipped or provided for, inadequate, meagre, scanty.
adj
Of an argument, excuse, etc.: used so often that it is no longer effective or interesting; banal, clichéd, trite.
adj
An argument or assertion with little in the way of substance or supporting evidence.
Example Sentences
- "His life vvas nigh vnto deaths dore yplaſte, / And thred-bare cote, and cobled ſhoes hee vvare, […]"
- "VVill any Freedom here from you be born, / VVhoſe Cloaths are thred-bare, and vvhoſe Cloaks are torn?"
- "We are told, that an ancient tragic poet, to move the pity of his audience for his exiled kings and distressed heroes, used to make the actors represent them in dresses and clothes that were thread-bare and decayed."
- "No one stops to question the coin of a rich man; but a poor devil cannot pass off either a joke or a guinea, without its being examined on both sides. Wit and coin are always doubted with a threadbare coat."
- "Ah! You may look through that shirt till your eyes ache; but you won't find a hole in it, nor a thread-bare place. It's the best he had, and a fine one too."
- "The shabbiness of these attendants upon shabbiness, the poverty of these insolvent waiters upon insolvency, was a sight to see. Such threadbare coats and trousers, such fusty gowns and shawls, such squashed hats and bonnets, such boots and shoes, such umbrellas and walking-sticks, never were seen in Rag Fair."
Etymology
PIE word *bʰosós From Middle English thred-bar, thred-bare (“of cloth, clothing, etc.: worn to such an extent that the warp and weft threads show, shabby, worn-out; (figurative) inadequate, poor”) [and other forms], from thred (“piece of textile twine”) (from Old English þrǣd (“thread”), from Proto-Germanic *þrēduz (“thread; twisted fibre”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to drill, pierce; to rub; to turn, twist”)) + bar, bare (“naked, unclothed, bare; not covered”) (from Old English bær (“naked, bare; unconcealed”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *bazaz (“naked, bare”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰosós (“bare; barefoot”)). The English word is analysable as thread + bare.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *terh₁-, thred-bar, þrǣd, *þrēduz, bær, *bazaz
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈθɹɛdˌbɛ(ə)ɹ/
- British English: /ˈθɹɛdbɛə/
Usage
Inflected Forms
more threadbare (comparative)
most threadbare (superlative)