[shab.by] adj shab.bi.er ; -est [obs. E shab a low fellow] (1669) 1: clothed with worn or seedy garments "a ~ hobo"
2. a: threadbare and faded from wear "a ~ sofa" b: ill-kept: dilapidated "a ~ neighborhood" 3 a: mean, despicable, contemptible "must feel ~ ... because of his compromises --Nat Hentoff" b: ungenerous, unfair "laments the ~ way in which this country often treated a poet --Paul Engle" c: inferior in quality: slovenly "~ reasoning" -- shab.bi.ly adv -- shab.bi.ness n