1
as in dilapidated
showing signs of advanced wear and tear and neglect
some ratty old magazines were the only reading material in the mountaintop cabin
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2
as in tattered
worn or torn into or as if into rags
can I use this ratty old T-shirt to wipe up some paint?
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3
as in irritable
easily irritated or annoyed
I get pretty ratty after hours of dealing with demanding customers
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4
as in lame
arousing or deserving of one's loathing and disgust
that's a ratty way to treat an old friend who's fallen on hard times
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Examples of ratty in a Sentence
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Recent Examples on the Web
The bar was full of Berliners, gorgeous girls with ratty mullets and 1970s eyeglasses, skinny boys slouching in all black.
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Lauren Groff, The Atlantic, 28 Sep. 2024
If your bath mat is ratty and scratchy, consider snapping up some replacements on Amazon.
—Toni Sutton, Peoplemag, 19 July 2024
There was Harold’s Bar and the Waldorf Cellar, which was very grand, like a ’20s speakeasy, with booths and vinyl that had gone ratty and a big mural of palm trees.
—Nicole Acheampong, New York Times, 26 June 2024
Miller says his star also used contact lenses to obscure those dazzling baby blues, and was fine being featured with a long beard and a mane of hair that turns decidedly ratty as the tale progresses.
—Marco Della Cava, USA TODAY, 23 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for ratty 
Lauren Groff, The Atlantic, 28 Sep. 2024
If your bath mat is ratty and scratchy, consider snapping up some replacements on Amazon.
—Toni Sutton, Peoplemag, 19 July 2024
There was Harold’s Bar and the Waldorf Cellar, which was very grand, like a ’20s speakeasy, with booths and vinyl that had gone ratty and a big mural of palm trees.
—Nicole Acheampong, New York Times, 26 June 2024
Miller says his star also used contact lenses to obscure those dazzling baby blues, and was fine being featured with a long beard and a mane of hair that turns decidedly ratty as the tale progresses.
—Marco Della Cava, USA TODAY, 23 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for ratty
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ratty
Adjective
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But the main facility’s current dilapidated state is not a safe and rehabilitative environment for any of the more than 1,300 people locked up.Editorial Board, Washington Post, 21 June 2024
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In 1853, Ann Pamela Cunningham, a well-to-do woman from South Carolina who was shocked by accounts of the dilapidated state of the home, founded the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union to save it, according to the website.Michael E. Ruane The Washington Post, arkansasonline.com, 20 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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Shane Colombo’s father, Ernesto, brought a tattered file of paperwork to each day of the court proceedings.Caroline Kubzansky, Chicago Tribune, 25 Oct. 2024
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With rescue and cleanup efforts still front of mind in the Tampa Bay region, the city of St. Petersburg is a long way from making any decisions on how to fix the tattered stadium, officials said Friday.NBC News, NBC News, 12 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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On Monday, after Rodgers and former head coach Robert Saleh had spent several months bickering over topics such as unexcused absences and cadence, the irritable quarterback won out again.Rob Reischel, Forbes, 11 Oct. 2024
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Within a couple of weeks of wearing the buds, my ears stopped having the irritable side effects.Lea Veloso, StyleCaster, 3 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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As holidays go, however, Flag Day can feel a bit lame.Kevin Fisher-Paulson, San Francisco Chronicle, 8 June 2021
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My 11-year-old loved watching the pups roll balls and play a giant floor piano, but for non-dog owners (guilty as charged), parts of the series—like dressing dogs in little hats and outfits for a Parisian fashion show—feel lame.Tim Neville, Outside Online, 23 Nov. 2020
Adjective
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Soft landing optimism has led the 2024 stock rally to broaden as of late into more neglected areas of the market such as small-caps.Krystal Hur, CNN, 9 Oct. 2024
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Meanwhile, a team aiming to restore a neglected and earthquake-damaged archaeological site in Turkey came across a tiny 3,500-year-old cuneiform tablet.Ashley Strickland, CNN, 17 Aug. 2024
Adjective
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Carl Wanderer was sentenced to hang for killing the unnamed ragged stranger.Marianne Mather, Chicago Tribune, 24 Oct. 2024
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While the Barry star is great here, the episode actually belongs to Mia Isaac and the terrifying Amy Ruggiero as an escaped patient named Alice Taylor, who appears at a hospital one night in a ragged state, unable to close her mouth.Brian Tallerico, Vulture, 16 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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High-performance mechanical switches or potentiometer sticks still perform incredibly well, and some budget Hall effect peripherals will still cheap out on materials, quality control, and manufacturing tolerances.Henri Robbins, WIRED, 4 Nov. 2024
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Soon, demand outpaced the supply of 2C-B available in Latin America, so Colombian dealers cut the powder with cheaper, longer-lasting, and more abundant European imports like MDMA and ketamine.Celia Ford, Vox, 4 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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And now, decades later, Dora Richardson had become a faded historical aside, a name on a patent, and not much more.Katie Hafner, Scientific American, 24 Oct. 2024
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At the official start of the fall 2024 NFL season in September, the tight end, 35, made waves with his look, which had gone from his signature buzz cut to a shaggy crew cut with super faded sides.Michelle Lee, People.com, 9 Oct. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Ratty.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ratty. Accessed 17 Nov. 2024.
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