There was a clean but threadbare rug on the floor beside the bed.
EXAMPLES FROM THE CORPUS
Despite her bleak background and threadbare, Dickensian sartorial habits, she certainly transmits an aura of elegance and gentility.
He was dressed in a scrupulously clean but threadbare dhoti and he wore a pale blue turban which exactly matched his eyes.
Honor had written to ask for some threadbare rugs to be replaced.
I preferred threadbare hand-me-downs to clothes that exuded boredom from every seam.
Increasingly, threadbare public-school systems are turning to parents for goods and services that taxpayers have stopped providing.
The sheets lay tangled, hanging down on the threadbare carpet.
They basked like reptiles till the sun penetrated the threadbare material and warmed them into movement.
Thesaurus
Longman Language Activatorthings made of paper or cloth that are in bad condition►shabby
clothes, books etc that look shabby are no longer in good condition because they are old and have been used a lot: · John was standing in the doorway in his shabby blue suit.· She wore shabby black clothes, with holes in the elbows of her jacket.
►worn
something such as material or cloth that is worn is thinner or weaker in particular parts as a result of being used a lot over a long time: · There was a worn Persian rug on the parquet floor.· We used to cut up worn blankets to make sleeping bags for the children.· The brake pads are very worn.
►tattered
clothes or books that are tattered are old and torn: · The old man clutched a tattered copy of "War and Peace".· The shirt was now tattered beyond recognition.
►threadbare
clothes, curtains, carpets etc that are threadbare have become extremely thin and weak because they have been used so much: · She stood shivering in her threadbare dress.· There was a clean but threadbare rug on the floor beside the bed.
►tatty
British clothes or books that are tatty are in bad condition and slightly torn because they have been used a lot: · At the window of the cottage hang tatty, faded curtains.· Some of our textbooks are starting to look rather tatty.
►battered
something that is battered is in bad condition and looks old especially because it has been used a lot: · He carried the same battered green journal with him on all his travels.· a battered old suitcase
►dog-eared
a book, page, photograph etc that is dog-eared is torn and bent at the edges because it has been used a lot: · Professor Brightly walked into the lecture hall with a pile of dog-eared notes under his arm.· On the other wall was a dog-eared calendar with faded pictures.
Collocations
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES►threadbare/worn carpet
(=very thin and in bad condition)· It was a dingy room with a threadbare carpet.
1clothes,carpets etc that are threadbare are very thin and in bad condition because they have been used a lot: a threadbare old sofa2threadbare excuse/argument/joke etc an excuse etc that is no longer effective because it has been used too much