SHABBINESS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does shabbiness mean? 

• SHABBINESS (noun)
  The noun SHABBINESS has 2 senses:

1. a lack of elegance as a consequence of wearing threadbare or dirty clothing

2. an unjust act

  Familiarity information: SHABBINESS used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SHABBINESS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A lack of elegance as a consequence of wearing threadbare or dirty clothing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

manginess; seediness; shabbiness; sleaziness

Hypernyms ("shabbiness" is a kind of...):

inelegance (the quality of lacking refinement and good taste)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "shabbiness"):

raggedness (shabbiness by virtue of being in rags)

Derivation:

shabby (showing signs of wear and tear)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An unjust act

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

iniquity; injustice; shabbiness; unfairness

Hypernyms ("shabbiness" is a kind of...):

actus reus; misconduct; wrongdoing; wrongful conduct (activity that transgresses moral or civil law)

Derivation:

shabby (mean and unworthy and despicable)

 Context examples 

The Captain himself was in the last extremity of shabbiness, with large whiskers, and an old, old brown great-coat with no other coat below it.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Neatness and fashion are enough for the former, and a something of shabbiness or impropriety will be most endearing to the latter.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)