Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A person wearing ragged or tattered clothing; a ragamuffin.
- adjective Ragged; tattered.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A ragged fellow.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A ragged fellow; a ragamuffin.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
Tattered . - noun A person with
tattered clothing; apauper .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a dirty shabbily clothed urchin
- adjective worn to shreds; or wearing torn or ragged clothing
- adjective in deplorable condition
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Within half a dozen years of the first appearance of "tatterdemalion," it came to be used as an adjective to describe anything or anyone ragged or disreputable.
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We do know that "tatterdemalion" has been used in print since the 1600s.
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Within half a dozen years of the first appearance of "tatterdemalion," it came to be used as an adjective to describe anything or anyone ragged or disreputable.
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I envisioned traps, snares, pits, poisons, even the construction of some kind of tatterdemalion designed to terrify beavers.
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The exact origin of "tatterdemalion" is uncertain, but it's probably connected to either the noun "tatter" ( "a torn scrap or shred") or the adjective "tattered"
-
We do know that "tatterdemalion" has been used in print since the 1600s.
-
Within half a dozen years of the first appearance of "tatterdemalion," it came to be used as an adjective to describe anything or anyone ragged or disreputable.
-
We do know that "tatterdemalion" has been used in print since the 1600s.
-
The exact origin of "tatterdemalion" is uncertain, but it's probably connected to either the noun "tatter" ( "a torn scrap or shred") or the adjective "tattered"
-
I envisioned traps, snares, pits, poisons, even the construction of some kind of tatterdemalion designed to terrify beavers.
brtom commented on the word tatterdemalion
"Florry Talbot, a blond feeble goosefat whore in a tatterdemalion gown of mildewed strawberry ..." Joyce, Ulysses, 15
January 1, 2008
bilby commented on the word tatterdemalion
Uff, don't hold back, James.
September 17, 2008