Meaning & use
threadbare
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
So old and worn that the fabric has become thin and the threads show.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: a threadbare carpet, the sofa is threadbare.
Patterns
- threadbare from something
The threadbare carpet in the hall had been there for fifty years.
His coat was so threadbare that it hardly kept out the wind.
They sat on a threadbare sofa covered with a blanket.
adjectivecomparable
Dressed in old, worn clothes, and so looking poor.
Grammar: Describes people or places that look poor: a threadbare family.
The threadbare travelers asked for a place to rest.
The theater, once grand, had become threadbare.
adjectivecomparablefigurative
Repeated so often that it has lost its force or originality.
Grammar: Used figuratively for ideas, jokes, excuses: a threadbare excuse.
The politician's threadbare slogans no longer excited anyone.
His threadbare excuse about the traffic fooled nobody.
Word forms
| comparative | more threadbare |
|---|---|
| superlative | most threadbare |
Common combinations
- threadbare carpet
- The threadbare carpet needed replacing.
- a threadbare excuse
- His threadbare excuse did not convince the teacher.
- threadbare clothes
- The boy wore threadbare clothes in winter.
- wear threadbare
- Years of use had worn the cushions threadbare.
- threadbare argument
- The lawyer's threadbare argument fell apart.
Synonyms and how they differ
- worn
- Worn is a general word for something damaged by use, whereas threadbare points specifically to fabric that has gone thin.
- shabby
- Shabby describes the poor, untidy appearance of something old, but it does not mean the cloth has gone thin.
- tattered
- Tattered means ripped or torn, which is more damaged than threadbare.
- hackneyed
- Hackneyed applies only to ideas or phrases overused until dull, which fits the figurative sense of threadbare.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: threadbare or threadlike?
threadbare vs threadlike
Threadlike means very thin like a thread and has nothing to do with wear.
Practice
Which phrase uses threadbare in a figurative sense?
Choose one answer.
An excuse can't literally have thin cloth, so threadbare here means repeated so often that it has no force. The others describe worn fabric.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “threadbare”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.