1
as in dilapidated
showing signs of advanced wear and tear and neglect
bought a threadbare couch at a garage sale
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in stereotyped
used or heard so often as to be dull
a novel filled with nothing but threadbare clichés
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in tattered
worn or torn into or as if into rags
I loved that threadbare shirt, but after 10 years of wear, it was time to throw it away
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4
as in impoverished
lacking money or material possessions
never knew that she had so many threadbare relatives until she won the lottery
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of threadbare
DiCaprio spent the first 20 years of his career being snubbed by Oscar voters, and his trophy cabinet’s looking pretty threadbare compared to his reputation.
—
Joe Reid, Vulture, 28 Nov. 2025
Reform’s platform is threadbare, marked by a single-minded obsession with immigration as the root of seemingly every social ill and offering mass deportations as the solution.
—Oliver Eagleton, Time, 26 Nov. 2025
The market for Westbrook's services in free agency this summer proved surprisingly threadbare.
—Alex Kirschenbaum, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Oct. 2025
Greta Gerwig Greta Gerwig went for a skirt suit look with threadbare pinstripes.
—Julia Teti, Footwear News, 8 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for threadbare
Recent Examples of Synonyms for threadbare
Adjective
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In this way, abandoned and often dilapidated homes are saved and renovated rather than being left to further deteriorate or be torn down.—
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To find her, Luis becomes embedded with an outlaw band of ravers, who cross the Moroccan desert in huge, dilapidated trucks.—
Adjective
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Later, Lenape artist Joe Baker places cutout photographs of his ancestors over the stereotyped images of Native Americans found in the wallpaper.—
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Several leaders described the pressure of being both highly visible and easily stereotyped.—
Adjective
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Kick your tattered bath mat to the curb, and grab the Yimobra Memory Foam Bath Rug before the deal expires.—
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The textured look included Roberto Cavalli tattered pants in a deep burgundy, worn with brown Miu Miu leggings underneath, a Dolce & Gabbana corset, and a Hermès by Jean Paul Gaultier shawl.—
Adjective
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The United States must step away from war and send food to Venezuela’s impoverished people.—
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Leaning into the superstition that someone with albinism can bring wealth to those in need, Panay’s story follows a young boy with albinism (Boubacar Dembèlè), whose voice is believed to hold special powers that can protect impoverished miners risking their lives for gold.—
Adjective
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The narrative highlights the growing, unseen populations of lonely and neglected individuals, shedding light on a vital but often ignored aspect of public care.—
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Over six years, Papp and Archie fostered 120 dogs and cats, and the owner said Archie was a major reason some of the most neglected and frightened animals went on to live full and happy lives.—
Adjective
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The first turned a fourth-quarter fumble into a 59-yard score when Achane burst through a tired, and seemingly defeated Buffalo defensive front and outsprinted the Bills’ entire secondary to the end zone.—
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But that feels like a tired, outdated characterisation.—
Adjective
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Her breath was becoming more ragged.—
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The five pieces offer, in turn, biomorphic hints of de Kooning, the ragged shapes of Clyfford Still, the bold geometries of Ellsworth Kelly, the paint smears of Gerhard Richter, and something that looks like toothpaste squeezed onto an orange peel.—
Adjective
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Flooding may occur in poor drainage and urban areas.—
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In recent games, KU’s communication has been pretty poor on defense and that’s led to players taking (and too often missing) wide-open 3-pointers.—
Cite this Entry
“Threadbare.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/threadbare. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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