Definition of shop-soiled in English:
shop-soiled
adjectiveˈʃɒpsɔɪldˈʃɑp ˌsɔɪld
British (of an article) made dirty or imperfect by being displayed or handled in a shop.
he is selling second-hand or shop-soiled goods
North American term shopworn
figurative his subject—the nature of the artist in relation to his society—is pretty shop-soiled
Example sentencesExamples
- He has the choice of confronting Cameron's little-known and mainly male front bench with untried young Brownites (also mainly male), or with shop-soiled ministers whose appearance on the airwaves prompts a rush for the ‘off’ switch.
- The children's grief over their dead mother and their father's attraction to a charity worker begin to dominate, which is a shame as these are the most conventional and shop-soiled aspects of the film.
- Libraries look unkempt and the books are shop-soiled and dog-eared.
- The term ‘airport novel’ is now used rather disparagingly, many claiming the genre is a front for smut, sleaze and shop-soiled erotica.
- He's a shop-soiled, aging diva, long past his sell-by date.
Definition of shop-soiled in US English:
shop-soiled
adjectiveˈSHäp ˌsoildˈʃɑp ˌsɔɪld
British (of an article) made dirty or imperfect by being displayed or handled in a store; shopworn.
he is selling second-hand or shop-soiled goods
figurative his subject—the nature of the artist in relation to his society—is pretty shop-soiled
Example sentencesExamples
- Libraries look unkempt and the books are shop-soiled and dog-eared.
- He has the choice of confronting Cameron's little-known and mainly male front bench with untried young Brownites (also mainly male), or with shop-soiled ministers whose appearance on the airwaves prompts a rush for the ‘off’ switch.
- He's a shop-soiled, aging diva, long past his sell-by date.
- The term ‘airport novel’ is now used rather disparagingly, many claiming the genre is a front for smut, sleaze and shop-soiled erotica.
- The children's grief over their dead mother and their father's attraction to a charity worker begin to dominate, which is a shame as these are the most conventional and shop-soiled aspects of the film.