down at heel

Definitions

1. 1

   In poor condition, especially due to having worn heels

   In poor condition, especially due to having worn heels; worn-out, shabby.

   • A pair of Oxford-mixture trousers […] fell in a series of not the most graceful folds over a pair of shoes sufficiently down at heel to display a pair of very soiled white stockings.
2. 2

   Shabbily dressed, slovenly

   Shabbily dressed, slovenly; impoverished; shabby, dilapidated.

   • He was a queer shoot, again, in his unkempt longish hair and slovenly clothes, a sort of very vulgar down-at-heel American in appearance.
   • For the likes of her, the down-at-heels support of Hoboken pier was plenty good enough.
   • Last year, he was down at heel, homeless and had an erratic relationship with his family.

The neighborhood