threadbare

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threadbare

/ˈθɹɛdbɛə/ UK
/-bɛː/ UK
/ˈθɹɛdˌbɛ(ə)ɹ/ US

Where it comes from

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.

adjective more threadbare · 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, […]
figuratively 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.
Similar: awanting, deficient, dismal, exiguous, geason, inadequate, insufficient, lank, lean, lousy, meager, measly
figuratively Of an argument, excuse, etc.: used so often that it is no longer effective or interesting; banal, clichéd, trite.
Similar: banal, bathetic, bromidic, cheesy, stock, clichéd, commonplace, corny, dog-eared, hackneyed, hoary, overdone · Opposite: fresh, new, all-new, brand new, brand spanking new, cherry, freshly made, green, hot, mint, nascent, newish
figuratively An argument or assertion with little in the way of substance or supporting evidence. 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 roc
Similar: awanting, deficient, dismal, exiguous, geason, inadequate, insufficient, lank, lean, lousy, meager, measly
archaic, obsolete 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!
Similar: broke, down at heel, penniless, almsless, arm, badly off, bankrupt, beggared, beggarly, boracic, broken, broker than the Ten Commandments · Opposite: bow-legged wi' brass, comfortably off, filthy rich, loaded, fat, minted, moneyed, moneybags, of means, oofy, rich, rich as Croesus

Translations

Every language

adj 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

Español	raído
Português	puído
Français	élimé
Deutsch	fadenscheinig
Ελληνικά	ξεφτισμένος xeftisménos, φθαρμένος ftharménos
Русский	изно́шенный iznóšennyj, обветша́лый obvetšályj, потёртый potjórtyj, ста́рый stáryj

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MLA

"threadbare." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/threadbare. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

threadbare. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/threadbare

Chicago

"threadbare." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/threadbare.

BibTeX

@misc{threadbare_2026,
  title = {threadbare},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/threadbare},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}