1
as in ragged
wearing torn or worn-out clothes
arrived at the shelter tattered and exhausted
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in faded
worn or torn into or as if into rags
a hobo in tattered old clothes and worn-out shoes
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in ripped
to cause (something) to separate into jagged pieces by violently pulling at it
the little boy tattered that blanket beyond repair by repeatedly yanking on it
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of tattered
Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA TODAY, 23 July 2024
Amalie fell asleep with the tattered edge of her old security blanket gripped in her hand.
—Sarah Braunstein, The New Yorker, 21 July 2024
Two hours after the attack, Abu Awad sat on a tattered couch outside the building where Judeh lived in Turmus Ayya.
—Tribune News Service, Hartford Courant, 3 Apr. 2024
Tucked inside was a tattered photo of me, a snaggletoothed first-grader at Church Street Elementary School in Tupelo, Miss.
—Minrose Gwin, New York Times, 18 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for tattered 
Adjective
Dressed in tattered robes, Lewis entertains not only by illuminating but also via his signature sassy phrases that originally captured the adoration of fans.
—Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA TODAY, 23 July 2024
Amalie fell asleep with the tattered edge of her old security blanket gripped in her hand.
—Sarah Braunstein, The New Yorker, 21 July 2024
Two hours after the attack, Abu Awad sat on a tattered couch outside the building where Judeh lived in Turmus Ayya.
—Tribune News Service, Hartford Courant, 3 Apr. 2024
Tucked inside was a tattered photo of me, a snaggletoothed first-grader at Church Street Elementary School in Tupelo, Miss.
—Minrose Gwin, New York Times, 18 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for tattered
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tattered
Adjective
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Again, this somewhat ragged rendition isn’t equal to the multi-layered studio version or live ones heard on bootlegs; in particular, the Stills and Young interplay from a Dallas 1968 show makes the Springfield sound like the true originators of the jam band concept.David Browne, Rolling Stone, 2 Dec. 2024
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Carl Wanderer was sentenced to hang for killing the unnamed ragged stranger.Marianne Mather, Chicago Tribune, 24 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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There’s a good bit of history in the faded paint: The late D’Alessandros — Old Tommy and Young Tommy, both Baltimore mayors, and the father and brother, respectively, of Pelosi — appear.Dan Rodricks, Baltimore Sun, 24 Nov. 2024
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In between the customers, vendors were constantly on the move, expertly moving buckets of flowers from nearby coolers onto the floor or stripping faded petals and leaves from new bunches of flowers.Jeanette Marantos, Los Angeles Times, 20 Nov. 2024
Verb
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There’s a lot to love on the full list, including some projects that feel ripped from the headlines.Matt Donnelly, Variety, 10 Dec. 2024
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The young quarterback ripped a pretty deep ball through the afternoon’s unpredictable winds.Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 10 Dec. 2024
Verb
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Sam Williams tore his ACL before the season began, and DeMarcus Lawrence still remains out after suffering a foot injury earlier this season.Joseph Epstein, Newsweek, 11 Dec. 2024
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The transfer from Washington State tore an anterior cruciate ligament in January while playing for the Cougars against the Bruins.Anthony De Leon, Los Angeles Times, 7 Dec. 2024
Verb
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The Republican president-elect frequently casts the outgoing Democratic president as a feckless leader who shredded American credibility around the world during his four-year term.Aamer Madhani and Zeke Miller, Los Angeles Times, 11 Dec. 2024
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Those materials are then shredded into small pieces before being separated by type and then refined into recycled materials ready for reuse.AJ Willingham, CNN, 7 Dec. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Tattered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tattered. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
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