threadbare
adjEtymology
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.
- inherited from thred-bar
Definitions
Of cloth, clothing, furnishings, etc.
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, […]
- VVill any Freedom here from you be born, / VVhoſe Cloaths are thred-bare, and vvhoſe Cloaks are torn?
- We 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.
In poor condition
In poor condition; damaged, shabby; also, poorly equipped or provided for, inadequate, meagre, scanty.
- Welth and wyt, I say, be so threde bare worne, / That all is without measure, and fer beyonde the mone.
- From an Underſtanding and a Conſcience, thread-bare and ragged vvith perpetual turning; […]
Of an argument, excuse, etc.
Of an argument, excuse, etc.: used so often that it is no longer effective or interesting; banal, clichéd, trite.
›+ 2 more definitionsshow fewer
An argument or assertion with little in the way of substance or supporting evidence.
Of a person
Of a person: wearing clothes of threadbare (sense 1) material; hence, impoverished, poor.
- Be gon, all Honeſty, / Thou fooliſh, ſlender, thredbare, ſtarving thing, be gon!
The neighborhood
- neighborshopworn
Derived
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for threadbare. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA