Meaning & use
fleabag
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Meanings
nouncountableinformaldisapproving
a dirty animal, especially a dog or cat, that has fleas
Grammar: Countable: you can say a fleabag or two fleabags.
Patterns
- a fleabag of a dog
- look like a fleabag
That old fleabag of a dog sleeps on the porch all day.
The cat came home a skinny little fleabag after a week in the rain.
nouncountableinformaldisapproving
a cheap, dirty hotel or room
Grammar: Countable and often used before another noun: a fleabag hotel.
Patterns
- a fleabag hotel
- stay in a fleabag
We spent one night in a fleabag near the station and left at dawn.
He was too proud to sleep in a fleabag, so he paid for a proper room.
nouncountableinformaloffensive
an unpleasant or dirty person, used as an insult
Grammar: Countable and very insulting; usually used about someone you are angry with.
Patterns
- call someone a fleabag
- you fleabag
The old man shouted at the boys and called them a bunch of fleabags.
She said her ex was a lazy fleabag who never cleaned anything.
Word forms
| plural | fleabags |
|---|
Common combinations
- fleabag hotel
- They checked into a fleabag hotel because every other place was full.
- a fleabag of a dog
- Their new pet is a fleabag of a dog, but the children love it.
- look like a fleabag
- After the camping trip, he looked like a fleabag.
- dirty fleabag
- The room was a dirty fleabag with broken windows.
Synonyms and how they differ
- dump
- Dump is also informal and means a dirty or unpleasant place, but it does not usually refer to an animal.
- mut
- Mut is an informal, often unkind word for a dog, especially a mixed-breed one; fleabag emphasizes dirt and fleas more than breed.
- rathole
- Rathole means a small, dirty room or building, and is slightly stronger and more unpleasant than fleabag.
Word family
- flea noun
- a small jumping insect that bites animals and people
- flea-bitten adjective
- covered with fleas or looking dirty and worn
Commonly confused: fleabag or flea bag?
fleabag vs flea bag
This is sometimes written as two words, but the usual spelling is one word: fleabag.
Practice
Which sentence uses fleabag correctly?
Choose one answer.
Fleabag is a noun for a dirty place or animal, so 'The hotel was a fleabag' fits. The other options use it as a verb or adjective, which is not standard English.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “fleabag”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.