Meaning & use

battered

adjective·Everyday

Damaged, worn, or injured from repeated hard use, impact, or abuse.

See it in a sentence

He carried a battered old suitcase held together with tape and string.

Shelters offer safety and support to battered spouses trying to leave abusive homes.

A note on using this word

In cooking, battered describes food coated in batter before frying, as in 'battered fish', a completely different, unrelated sense.

Words with a similar meaning

worndamagedbeaten

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

pristineunblemished

Another way to use it

2. adjective

Coated in a liquid mixture of flour and egg before frying.

The chip shop serves battered sausages alongside its famous fish and chips.

Make it your own

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