threadbare

English
WOTD – 21 December 2023

Etymology
PIE word
*bʰosós
A c. 1960s teddy bear which has become threadbare (sense 1).

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],[1] from thred (“piece of textile twine”)[2] (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”)[3] (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.[4]

Pronunciation
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈθɹɛdbɛə/, /-bɛː/
  • Audio (Southern England)(file)
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈθɹɛdˌbɛ(ə)ɹ/
  • Hyphenation: thread‧bare

Adjective

threadbare (comparative more threadbare, superlative most threadbare)

  1. 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.
  2. (figurative)
    1. In poor condition; damaged, shabby; also, poorly equipped or provided for, inadequate, meagre, scanty.
      (poorly equipped): Synonyms: see Thesaurus:inadequate
      • 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 225–226:
        Welth and wyt, I say, be so threde bare worne, / That all is without measure, and fer beyonde the mone.
      • 1704, [Jonathan Swift], “Section I. The Introduction.”, in A Tale of a Tub. […], London: […] John Nutt, […], →OCLC, page 51:
        From an Underſtanding and a Conſcience, thread-bare and ragged vvith perpetual turning; […]
      • 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:
        Holy 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.
    2. Of an argument, excuse, etc.: used so often that it is no longer effective or interesting; banal, clichéd, trite.
      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:hackneyed
      Antonyms: fresh; see also Thesaurus:new
      • 2012 August 21, Jason Heller, “The Darkness: Hot Cakes [music review]”, in The A.V. Club‎, archived from the original on 2023-04-06:
        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.
  3. (archaic or obsolete) Of a person: wearing clothes of threadbare (sense 1) material; hence, impoverished, poor.
    Synonyms: broke, down at heel, penniless; see also Thesaurus:impoverished
    Antonyms: see Thesaurus:wealthy

Derived terms

Translations
in poor condition — see damaged,‎ shabby
poorly equipped or provided for — see inadequate,‎ meagre,‎ scanty
of an argument, etc.: used so often that it is no longer effective or interesting — see banal,‎ clichéd,‎ hackneyed,‎ trite
impoverished, poor — see impoverished,‎ poor

References
  1. “thrēd-bār(e, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. “thrēd(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  3. “bār, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  4. “threadbare, adj.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, July 2023; “threadbare, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
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