threadbareadj.
/ˈθrɛdbɛː/, U.S. /ˈθrɛdˌbɛ(ə)r/ 1. Of a garment, etc.: Having the nap worn off, leaving bare the threads of the warp and woof; worn to the thread; shabby; worn-out.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [adjective] > shabby or worn-out
threadbare1362
rusty1602
dowdy1774
dowdyish1818
pokyc1854
hand-me-down1895
daverdy1906
schlumpy1956
schleppy1966
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric with specific qualities > [adjective] > threadbare
threadbare1362
thready1910
the world > matter > condition of matter > bad condition of matter > [adjective] > by loss of material or wasted > worn > worn bare > threadbare
threadbare1362
bare1483
bare (also) worn to the thread1483
peeled?a1513
sere1523
pilled1548
napless1596
thready1910
1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. v. 113 But ȝif a lous couþe lepe I con hit not I-leue Heo scholde wandre on þat walk hit was so þred-bare.
c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 262 He was nat lyk a Cloystrer With a threedbare cope as is a poure scoler.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) vi. l. 449 Thi ald hud becaus it is thred-bar.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. iv. sig. D4 Thred-bare cote, and cobled shoes hee ware.
1693 W. Bowles tr. Juvenal in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires v. 80 Will any Freedom here from you be born, Whose Cloaths are thred-bare.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 42. ¶2 Dresses and Cloaths that were thread-bare and decay'd.
1824 W. Irving Tales of Traveller I. 196 Wit and coin are always doubted with a thread-bare coat.
2.
a. figurative. Resembling a threadbare garment; hence, poorly furnished or provided; meagre, scanty, poor, beggarly; contemptible, ‘sorry’.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] > paltry, mean, or contemptible
unworthlyc1230
wretcha1250
seely1297
vilec1320
not worth a cress (kerse)1377
the value of a rushc1380
threadbarec1412
wretched1450
miserable?a1513
rascal1519
prettya1522
not worth a whistlea1529
pegrall1535
plack1539
pelting1540
scald1542
sleeveless1551
baggage1553
paltering1553
piddling1559
twopenny1560
paltry1565
rubbish1565
baggagely1573
pelfish1577
halfpenny1579
palting1579
baubling1581
three-halfpenny1581
pitiful1582
triobolar1585
squirting1589
not worth a lousea1592
hedge1596
cheap1597
peddling1597
dribbling1600
mean1600
rascally1600
three-farthingc1600
draughty1602
dilute1605
copper1609
peltry?a1610
threepenny1613
pelsy1631
pimping1640
triobolary1644
pigwidgeon1647
dustya1649
fiddling1652
puddlinga1653
insignificant1658
piteous1667
snotty1681
scrubbed1688
dishonourable1699
scrub1711
footy1720
fouty1722
rubbishing1731
chuck-farthing1748
rubbishy1753
shabby1753
scrubby1754
poxya1758
rubbishly1777
waff-like1808
trinkety1817
meanish1831
one-eyed1843
twiddling1844
measly1847
poking1850
picayunish1852
vild1853
picayune1856
snide1859
two-cent1859
rummagy1872
faddling1883
finicking1886
slushy1889
twopence halfpenny1890
jerk1893
pissy1922
crappy1928
two-bit1932
piddly1933
chickenshit1934
pissing1937
penny packet1943
farkakte1960
pony1964
gay1978
the world > relative properties > quantity > insufficiency > [adjective] > limited in quantity or amount > scanty or meagre
feeblec1275
straita1300
thinc1374
threadbarec1412
exile?1440
silly?a1500
pilled1526
thinnish1540
carrion-lean1542
carrion1565
exiled?1577
penurious1594
unnourishing1605
starveling1611
meagre1612
short-handed1622
lanka1644
scrimp1681
strigose1708
skimp1775
skimping1775
spare1813
shy1821
scrimping1823
skimpy1842
slim1852
scrappy1985
minnowy1991
c1412 T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum 1431 Som person is so threde-bare of konnynge.
1462 M. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 279 Yeluerton is a good thredbare frend for yow.
a1529 J. Skelton Magnyfycence (?1530) sig. Aiiii Welth and wyt I say be so threde bare worne.
1568 in J. Small Poems W. Dunbar (1893) II. 308 Sum strykis down a threid bair cheik.
1586 A. Day Eng. Secretorie i. sig. F2v Wyth bad attire, and threed-bare diet, he liued with him a pretie season.
1676 A. Marvell Mr. Smirke sig. Cv What Power they have, they will not wear it thred bare.
1704 J. Swift Tale of Tub i. 51 A Conscience, thread-bare and ragged with perpetual turning.
1864 E. B. Pusey Daniel (1876) 438 We should often have had but a threadbare history.
b. esp. Having lost its influence, freshness, or force by much use; trite from constant repetition; commonplace, stale, hackneyed.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > customary or habitual mode of behaviour > [adjective] > usual or ordinary > commonplace
quotidian1430
trite1548
beaten1587
trivial1589
threadbare1598
protrite1604
prose1606
commonplace1616
everyday1628
prostitute1631
prosaical1699
tritical1709
prosaic1729
tritish1779
hack1821
rum-ti-tum1832
unspecial1838
banal1840
commonplacish1847
prosy1849
inventionless1887
thread-worn1888
the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > [adjective] > wearisome or tedious > dull through repetition
trite1548
beaten1587
threadbare1598
repetitious1673
hackneyed1747
monotonous1780
commonplace1801
thread-worn1888
the world > time > relative time > the past > oldness or ancientness > [adjective] > old-fashioned or antiquated > stale, trite, or hackneyed
stale1550
cock-crowen1577
hackney1590
threadbare1598
worn-out1713
hackish1868
thread-worn1888
timeworn1901
old hat1949
connect-the-dots1971
join-the-dots1988
1598 E. Guilpin Skialetheia sig. B6v So long he hath vsde to cry, oh rare, That now that phrase is growne thin & thred-bare.
1657 J. Watts Scribe, Pharisee 107 A trite, and thredbare exception.
1750 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 8 Jan. (1932) (modernized text) V. 1482 The poor threadbare topics of half-wits, and minute philosophers.
1825 W. Scott Let. 29 Apr. (1935) IX. 98 If this quotation is rather threadbare.
1891 M. Oliphant Jerusalem i. iv. 157 A strange sermon upon..the fallacy of the hopes of men, which is a threadbare subject.
3. Of persons: Wearing threadbare clothes; shabby, seedy; hence, impecunious, hard up; down-at-heel, out-at-elbows. Now rare or Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > poverty > [adjective] > poor
havelessOE
unrichOE
waedlec1000
armOE
nakedOE
helplessc1175
wantsomec1175
poora1200
barec1220
needfula1225
misease?c1225
unwealya1300
needyc1325
feeblec1330
poorful1372
mischievousc1390
miseasedc1390
indigentc1400
meanc1400
naughtyc1400
succourless1412
unwealthyc1412
behove1413
misterousa1425
misterfulc1480
miserablec1485
beggarly1545
starved1563
threadbare1577
penurious1590
fortuneless1596
wealthless1605
wantful1607
necessitous1611
inopulent1613
titheless1615
egene1631
starveling1638
necessitated1646
inopious1656
parsimonious1782
unopulent1782
lacking1805
bushed1819
obolary1820
ill-to-do1853
down at heel1856
po'1866
needsome1870
down-at-heeled1884
rocky1921
1577 R. Wrighte in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1827) 2nd Ser. III. 75 He shall not onley be thrid bare but ragged.
1629 J. Earle Micro-cosmogr. (ed. 5) xii. sig. D3v Onely to be out at elbowes is in fashion here, and a great Indecorum, not to be thred-bare.
1678 T. Shadwell Hist. Timon i. 1 Honesty, Thou foolish, slender, thredbare, starving thing.
1713 R. Steele Englishman No. 16. 108 You shall see him..in close Whisper with a thread-bare Philosopher.
1770 H. Brooke Fool of Quality V. xvii. 259 [He] took the threadbare Longfield..under the arm, and carried him away.
Compounds
threadbare-genteel adj. = shabby-genteel adj.
ΚΠ
1858 A. H. Clough Amours de Voyage in Atlantic Monthly Feb. 422 Some Threadbare-genteel relations.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adj.1362