Meanings
nounrags and tatters pl (plural only)
- pluralplural onlyvery old, torn clothes
...she was sworn just as she was, all rags and tatters.
2002, C. L. Brightwell, Memorials of the Early Lives and Doings of Great Lawyers, page 198 - broadlypluralplural onlysomething ruined; fragments
December 17 2001, Russell Thomas, The Guardian Sports section. Fulham's defence was a thing of rags and tatters long before the end.
Translations
Czech hadry
- hadryvery old, torn clothes
French haillons
- haillonsvery old, torn clothes
German Lumpen
- Lumpenvery old, torn clothes
Spanish andrajos, estrazas
- andrajosvery old, torn clothes
- estrazasvery old, torn clothes
- haraposvery old, torn clothes
- jironesvery old, torn clothes
- guiñaposvery old, torn clothes
Ukrainian лахмі́ття
- лахмі́ття (laxmíttja)very old, torn clothes
Cite this entry
APA
rags and tatters. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rags%20and%20tatters
MLA
“rags and tatters.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rags%20and%20tatters. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rags and tatters,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rags%20and%20tatters.
Source: rags and tatters on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.