shabbily

«shabbily» in Mova's school dictionary: In a worn-out, old and untidy way: shabbily dressed means… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

adverb (shabbily)

meaning for a pupil

1) In a worn-out, old and untidy way: shabbily dressed means wearing old, faded, worn clothes. tree →

2) In an unfair, mean or unkind way: to treat someone shabbily is to treat them badly. tree →

sense in the lessons

A describing word in stories: it shows a poor or careless look («shabbily dressed», «a shabbily furnished room»), or a mean way of behaving («they treated him shabbily»). In The Wind in the Willows Toad, escaping from prison, is dressed in the washerwoman's shabby clothes. In everyday talk «treat someone shabbily» means be unfair to someone who deserved better.

examples

• The old man was shabbily dressed but very polite. tree →
• They lived in a shabbily furnished flat above the shop. tree →
• The team treated their loyal goalkeeper shabbily. tree →
• I think you behaved rather shabbily towards your friend. tree →
• The shabbily painted gate creaked in the wind. tree →
• Toad, shabbily dressed as a washerwoman, hurried to the station. tree →
• But the girl (and she was a very pretty girl, though so shabbily dressed) begged so hard for one of them that at last he said: tree →

note

Adverb from the adjective «shabby» (shabbier, shabbiest); noun «shabbiness». Spelling: shabby → shabbily (y changes to i). The second meaning is about behaviour, not clothes.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «shabbily» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.