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shoddy

UK/ˈʃɒd.i/UK[ˈʃɔd.i]Canada, US/ˈʃɑ.di/Canada, US[ˈʃɒ.ɾi]

adjective

What it means

  1. Of poor quality or construction.

    Near-synonym: spotty

    1 more example

    Do not settle for shoddy knives if you are serious about cooking.

    Synonyms: spotty

  2. Poor; low.

    Near-synonym: spotty

    1 more example

    Do not settle for shoddy quality in your kitchen knives.

    Synonyms: cruddy, lousy, trashy, ass, bad, base, below par, bottom-shelf

  3. datedPretentious, sham, counterfeit.

In a sentence

Near-synonym: spotty

Where it comes from

* Unknown, but possibly from shoad (“loose stone and rubble; fragments”), equivalent to shoad + -y; or possibly from the Arabic word for reuse. Shoad was of inferior quality for building. * The modern adjectival sense was apparently derived from inexpensive shoddy (“fabric from wool-processing byproduct”), which was not really suitable for (but was sometimes still used for) things such as military uniforms at the beginning of the US Civil War.

Full entry for shoddy →

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