Shoddy
['ʃɒdɪ] or ['ʃɑdi]
Definition
(v. t.) A fibrous material obtained by "deviling," or tearing into fibers, refuse woolen goods, old stockings, rags, druggets, etc. See Mungo.
(v. t.) A fabric of inferior quality made of, or containing a large amount of, shoddy.
(a.) Made wholly or in part of shoddy; containing shoddy; as, shoddy cloth; shoddy blankets; hence, colloquially, not genuine; sham; pretentious; as, shoddy aristocracy.
Checked by Elmer
Definition
n. (orig.) the waste arising from the manufacture of wool: now applied to the wool of old woven fabrics reduced to the state in which it was before being spun and woven and thus fit for remanufacture: the inferior cloth made from this substance: worthless goods: (coll.) pretence sham vulgar and baseless assumption.—adj. made of shoddy: inferior trashy: pretentious sham counterfeit: ambitious by reason of newly-acquired wealth.—n. Shodd′yism.
Inputed by Jarvis
Examples
- Edison was intolerant of sham and shoddy, and nothing would satisfy him that could not stand cross-examination by microscope, test-tube, and galvanometer. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- If our Government would rebuke some of our shoddy contractors occasionally, it might work much good. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
Typist: Rosa