threadbare

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English

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WOTD – 21 December 2023

Etymology

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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

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Adjective

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threadbare (comparative more threadbare, superlative most threadbare)

  2. 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.
  3. (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
  4. (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

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Translations

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References

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  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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