Meanings
comparative more threadbare · superlative most threadbare
- Of cloth, clothing, furnishings, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show; shabby, worn-out.
His life vvas nigh vnto deaths dore yplaſte, / And thred-bare cote, and cobled ſhoes hee vvare, […]
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 28, page 535 more examples
VVill any Freedom here from you be born, / VVhoſe Cloaths are thred-bare, and vvhoſe Cloaks are torn?
1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, W. Bowles, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Fifth Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC, page 80We are told, that an ancient tragic poet, to move the pity of his audience for his exiled kings and distressed heroes, used to make the actors represent them in dresses and clothes that were thread-bare and decayed.
1712 January 3 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “SUNDAY, December 24, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 42; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 282No one stops to question the coin of a rich man; but a poor devil cannot pass off either a joke or a guinea, without its being examined on both sides. Wit and coin are always doubted with a threadbare coat.
1824, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “The Club of Queer Fellows”, in Tales of a Traveller, part 1 (Strange Stories. […]), Philadelphia, Pa.: H[enry] C[harles] Carey & I[saac] Lea, […], →OCLC, page 26Ah! You may look through that shirt till your eyes ache; but you won't find a hole in it, nor a thread-bare place. It's the best he had, and a fine one too.
1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Four. The Last of the Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 135The shabbiness of these attendants upon shabbiness, the poverty of these insolvent waiters upon insolvency, was a sight to see. Such threadbare coats and trousers, such fusty gowns and shawls, such squashed hats and bonnets, such boots and shoes, such umbrellas and walking-sticks, never were seen in Rag Fair.
1855 December – 1857 June, Charles Dickens, “Little Mother”, in Little Dorrit, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1857, →OCLC, 1st book (Poverty), page 66 - figurativelyIn poor condition; damaged, shabby; also, poorly equipped or provided for, inadequate, meagre, scanty.
From an Underſtanding and a Conſcience, thread-bare and ragged vvith perpetual turning; […]
1704, [Jonathan Swift], “Section I. The Introduction.”, in A Tale of a Tub. […], London: […] John Nutt, […], →OCLC, page 513 more examples
Welth and wyt, I say, be so threde bare worne, / That all is without measure, and fer beyonde the mone.
a. 1530 (date written), John Skelton, “Magnyfycence, a Goodly Interlude and a Mery, […]”, in Alexander Dyce, editor, The Poetical Works of John Skelton: […], volume I, London: Thomas Rodd, […], published 1843, →OCLC, page 232, lines 225–226Holy Virgin stood in the main Convent of Glatz, in rather a threadbare condition, when the Prussians first approached; the Jesuits, and ardently Orthodox of both sexes, flagitating Heaven and her with their prayers, that she would vouchsafe to keep the Prussians out.
1862, Thomas Carlyle, “Friedrich Starts for Moravia, on a New Scheme He Has”, in History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, volume III, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, book XIII, page 519“I told you the trip insurance was worth it --” “There it is!” “You said it was a waste of money.” “I still think $5 is too much. This blanket is thread-bare.”
2019 April 8, Brett Cawley & Robert Maitia, “The Future Is Borax” (14:04 from the start), in American Dad!, season 15, episode 22, spoken by Stan Smith (Seth MacFarlane)Synonyms: awanting, deficient, dismal, exiguous, geason, inadequate, insufficient, lank
- figurativelyAn argument or assertion with little in the way of substance or supporting evidence.
1 more example
But with so many tired, lazy callbacks to its own threadbare catalog (including “Love Is Not The Answer,” a watery echo of the epic “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” from 2003’s Permission To Land), Hot Cakes marks the point where The Darkness has stopped cannibalizing the golden age of stadium rock and simply started cannibalizing itself.
2012 August 21, Jason Heller, “The Darkness: Hot Cakes [music review]”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 06 Apr 2023Synonyms: awanting, deficient, dismal, exiguous, geason, inadequate, insufficient, lank
- archaicobsoleteOf a person: wearing clothes of threadbare (sense 1) material; hence, impoverished, poor.
Be gon, all Honeſty, / Thou fooliſh, ſlender, thredbare, ſtarving thing, be gon!
1678 February 28 (date licensed), Tho[mas] Shadwell, The History of Timon of Athens, the Man-hater. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for Henry Herringman, […], published 1678, →OCLC, Act I, page 1Synonyms: broke, down at heel, penniless, almsless, arm, badly off, bankrupt, beggared · Antonyms: bow-legged wi' brass, comfortably off, filthy rich, loaded, fat, minted, moneyed, moneybags
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveIn poor condition; damaged, shabby; also, poorly equipped or provided for, inadequate, meagre, scanty.
adjectiveOf an argument, excuse, etc.: used so often that it is no longer effective or interesting; banal, clichéd, trite.
adjectiveAn argument or assertion with little in the way of substance or supporting evidence.
adjectiveOf a person: wearing clothes of threadbare (sense 1) material; hence, impoverished, poor.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiverepeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse
adjectivehaving the nap worn away so that the threads show through
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰosós“bare; barefoot”
- Proto-Germanic*bazaz“naked, bare”
- Old Englishbær“naked, bare; unconcealed”
- Proto-Indo-European*terh₁-“to drill, pierce; to rub; to turn, twist”
- Proto-Germanic*þrēduz“thread; twisted fibre”
- Old Englishþrǣd“thread”
- Middle Englishthred-bar
- Englishthreadbare
PIE word *bʰosós From Middle English thred-bar, thred-bare (“of cloth, clothing, etc.: worn to such an extent that the warp and weft threads show, shabby, worn-out; (figurative) inadequate, poor”) [and other forms], from thred (“piece of textile twine”) (from Old English þrǣd (“thread”), from Proto-Germanic *þrēduz (“thread; twisted fibre”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to drill, pierce; to rub; to turn, twist”)) + bar, bare (“naked, unclothed, bare; not covered”) (from Old English bær (“naked, bare; unconcealed”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *bazaz (“naked, bare”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰosós (“bare; barefoot”)). The English word is analysable as thread + bare.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian износен, овехтял
- износен (iznosen)of cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
- овехтял (ovehtjal)of cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
Catalan gastat, tronat
- gastatof cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
- tronatof cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
Dutch versleten
- versletenof cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
Finnish kulunut, nuhruinen
- kulunutof cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
- nuhruinenof cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
- nukkavieruof cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
- nuhruinenof a person: wearing clothes of threadbare material
French élimé
- éliméof cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
German fadenscheinig
- fadenscheinigof cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
Greek ξεφτισμένος, φθαρμένος
- ξεφτισμένος (xeftisménos)of cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
- φθαρμένος (ftharménos)of cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
Irish ar an bhfáithim, barrchaite
- ar an bhfáithimof cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
- barrchaiteof cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
- lomof cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
- lomchaiteof cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
- scáineachof cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
- scáinteof cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
- smolchaiteof cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
Latin rallus
- rallusof cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
Norwegian Bokmål loslitt, loslitt
- loslittof cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
- loslittof a person: wearing clothes of threadbare material
Portuguese puído
- puídoof cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
Russian изно́шенный, обветша́лый
- изно́шенный (iznóšennyj)of cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
- обветша́лый (obvetšályj)of cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
- потёртый (potjórtyj)of cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
- ста́рый (stáryj)of cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
Scottish Gaelic lom
- lomof cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
Spanish raído
- raídoof cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
Ukrainian пошарпаний, потертий
- пошарпаний (pošarpanyj)of cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
- потертий (potertyj)of cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
- зношений (znošenyj)of cloth, etc.: frayed and worn to an extent that the nap is damaged and the warp and weft threads show — see also shabby, worn-out
Cite this entry
threadbare. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/threadbare
“threadbare.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/threadbare. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “threadbare,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/threadbare.
Source: threadbare on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.