slipshodadj.

Brit.

/ˈslɪpʃɒd/, U.S.

/ˈslɪpˌʃɑd/

Forms: Also 1500s slippeshood, 1600s slip-sho'd, 1600s– slip-shod.

Etymology: < slip v.¹ + shod adj., after slip-shoe n.

a. Wearing slippers or very loose shoes, in later use esp. such as are down at the heel. Also figurative.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > wearing clothing > [adjective] > wearing footwear > wearing shoes > wearing slippers or loose shoes

slipshod1580

slippereda1616

slip-shoed1702

slipper-slopper1825

pred.

1580 J. Lyly Euphues & his Eng. (new ed.) f. 57^v Thinking it.., if one suffer you to treade a wry, no shame to goe slipshood [sic; 1581 slippeshood].

1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear v. 12 Thy wit shal nere goe slipshod .

1682 N. O. tr. N. Boileau-Despréaux Lutrin iv. 220 Another durst not stay to tye his shooes, But slip-sho'd hobbl'd, lest he Breakfast loose.

1747 P. Francis tr. Horace Epist. ii. i. 233 Dossennus slip-shod shambles o'er the Scene.

1782 W. Cowper Hope in Poems 145 To rise at noon, sit slipshod and undress'd.

1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan II. 340 One of those..who shuffle thro' the serious duties of life—slip~shod.

1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick xv. 74 With each foot in a cod's decapitated head, looking very slip-shod.

attributive.1608 T. Middleton Your Fiue Gallants sig. F2 Out ath'house, you slip-shood, shamlegd..rascall.1653 T. Urquhart tr. F. Rabelais 1st Bk. Wks. liv. 236 Here enter not vile bigots, hypocrites,..Slipshod caffards.1728 A. Pope Dunciad iii. 149 See next two slip-shod Muses traipse along.1781 W. Cowper Truth 144 The shiv'ring urchin,..With slip-shod heels.1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby xxii. 203 At intervals were heard the tread of slip-shod feet.1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. xxxiv. 286 Dick..descried a small slipshod girl in a dirty coarse apron and bib.1877 R. H. Roberts Harry Holbrooke of Holbrooke Hall i. 14 A slipshod stable-helper holds the hired horse by the head.in extended use.1861 G. A. Sala Dutch Pict. vi. 76 All you hear of her [is]..the slipshod scuffling of her shoes about the house.

b. Of shoes: Loose or untidy; in bad condition; down at the heel.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > shoe or boot > [adjective] > in bad condition or down-at-heel

slipshod1687

sheveling-heeled1777

run-over1876

slipper-slopper1904

1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant iii. 37 As they do who go with their shoes slipshod.

1823 W. Scott St. Ronan's Well II. iv. 84 His feet were thrust into the old slip-shod shoes, which served him instead of slippers.

1846 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) vi. 53 The slipshod shoes.

c. In shabby condition.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > condition of matter > bad condition of matter > [adjective] > having lost freshness > shabby

shabbed1674

shabby1685

shab-rag1770

fatigued1774

slipshod1818

scuffed1827

scaly1843

seedy1868

dog-eared1872

shoddy1927

1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian i, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. I. 41 A sort of appendix to the half-bound and slip-shod volumes of the circulating library.

2. figurative. Slovenly, careless:

a. Of style or language.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > weakness or feebleness > [adjective] > slovenly

largea1400

scribbled1550

slipshod1814

spewy1829

dashy1844

slip-along1849

dauby1878

sloppy1881

slipshoddy1882

1814 L. Hunt Feast of Poets 47 Between the lameness of Cowper and the slip-shod vigour of Churchill.

1831 J. W. Croker in J. Boswell Life Johnson I. 417 [Quoting J. W. Croker, (new ed.) an. 1763] The following slip-shod but characteristic epitaph.

a1861 A. H. Clough Poems & Prose Remains (1869) I. 331 The fashionable jargon of the day..seems to have been a sort of slipshod English, continually helped out with the newest French phrases.

1891 Spectator 18 Apr. Her style is occasionally slipshod, so much so that in certain passages it is difficult to discover the nominative.

absolute.1842 J. Sterling Ess. & Tales (1848) I. 436 In the latter half of the poem,..the lax shapelessness of structure, the endless slipshod, yawny loungings, and vapid carelessness of execution become very disagreeable.

b. Of statements, arguments, etc., or of writers in respect of these.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > weakness or feebleness > [adjective]

feeblec1400

colourlessc1425

flagging1540

pithless1555

blanched1570

toothless1592

unpointed1604

unsinewed1604

jejune1615

low-pitched1622

unsinewy?1623

macilent1624

flaccid1647

insinewy1653

unsubstanceda1658

incogent1667

pointless1673

languida1677

enervatea1704

unaccentuated1716

unnervate1725

lank1729

unforcible1754

nerveless1763

weak1771

flabby1793

slip-slop1814

tinkling1822

exsanguinea1834

twittery1840

slipshod1842

under-coloured1870

shaftless1881

thin1890

unaccented1893

wimpish1925

wimp1979

1842 W. Howitt Rural & Domest. Life Germany xix. 479 You also find..even more slipshod writers just as much in vogue.

1859 C. Kingsley Misc. I. 63 This is the sort of slipshod dilemma by which Elizabeth is proved to be wrong.

1877 E. R. Conder Basis of Faith iv. 183 The slipshod inaccuracy of those who really know better.

c. Of habits, methods, etc.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > manner of action > carelessness > [adjective] > careless, not thorough

overlyc1450

superficialc1456

sloven1532

sloven-like1569

perfunctory1592

slovenly1592

perfunctorious1599

cursory1601

cursorarya1616

slighty1619

cursitory1632

touch and go1682

passant1685

skimming1728

slapdashc1792

lax1812

slap-bang1815

slummocking1825

slobbery1832

percursory1837

slipshod1845

slip-string1854

slummocky1855

free and easy1864

unthorough1868

slurring1880

slummy1881

sploshy1881

skimmy1893

surfacy1975

drive-through1994

1845 B. Disraeli Sybil II. iv. x. 261 Men..who lead a sort of facile, slipshod existence, doing nothing, yet mightily interested in what others do.

1863 D. T. Ansted Ionian Islands 193 The case is singularly illustrative of the slipshod and unpractical habits of the people.

1880 M. E. Braddon Just as I Am xi She reigned supreme in a slip-shod household.

Derivatives

ˈslipshoddiness n.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > weakness or feebleness > [noun] > slovenliness

slovenliness1701

slovenry1847

slipshoddinessa1849

slipshodnessa1877

slothfulness1878

slobberness1880

sloppiness1980

a1849 E. A. Poe Marginalia in Wks. (1864) III. 583 The slipshodiness is so thoroughly in unison with the nonchalant air of the thoughts.

1887 Jrnl. Education Dec. 520 The chief fault..was the ‘scrappiness’ and ‘slipshoddiness’ of the answers.

ˈslipshoddy adj.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > weakness or feebleness > [adjective] > slovenly

largea1400

scribbled1550

slipshod1814

spewy1829

dashy1844

slip-along1849

dauby1878

sloppy1881

slipshoddy1882

1882 Spectator 22 Apr. 534 Such slipshoddy statements may be of little account.

ˈslipshodism n.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > weakness or feebleness > [noun] > slovenliness > an instance of

slipshodism1897

1897 Naturalist 269 Slipshodisms in phrase abound.

ˈslipshodness n.

ΘΚΠ