Tattered Meaning
/ˈtætəd/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjRent in tatters, torn, hanging in rags; ragged.
adjDressed in tatters or rags; ragged.
Sentence Examples
I see a tattered flag which continues to flutter in the wind.
Felix was dressed in tattered clothing.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The old book was so ____ that its pages were falling out one by one.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The old flag was ____ and torn after being exposed to the strong winds and the heavy rain for many months today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English tatered, tatird, from Old Norse tǫturr. Originally, it was derived from the noun, but it was later reanalysed as a past participle (tatter + -ed), whereafter the verb came into being. Compare tatter.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The chattering, irrational brute of the subconscious clothes itself in the tattered garments of rationality and idealism."
— 1919, Boris Sidis, The Source and Aim of Human Progress:
"This is the Prieſt all ſhaven and ſhorn, that married the man all tattered and torn[.]"
— 1784, The House that Jack Built, page 8:
"The tattered man waved his hand."
— 1895 October, Stephen Crane, chapter X, in The Red Badge of Courage: An Episode of the American Civil War, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, page 101:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The old book was so ____ that its pages were falling out one by one.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The old flag was ____ and torn after being exposed to the strong winds and the heavy rain for many months today.