i Register
In some senses, ratty is marked as figuratively, informal. Watch for register when choosing this word.
ratty
/ˈɹæti/
adj 5noun 1
Collocations
4ADJ.
black, wrinkled
VERB + RATTY
place, thought
RATTY + NOUN
cloak, couch, mock-leather, pants
PREP.
in, in, on, with
Definitions
adj
1
Resembling or characteristic of a rat; ratlike.
2
Infested with rats.
3
In poor condition or repair.
We got an old tin lantern, and a butcher knife without any handle, and a bran-new Barlow knife worth two bits in any store, and a lot of tallow candles, and a tin candlestick, and a gourd, and a tin cup, and a ratty old bed-quilt off the bed, […] and just as we were leaving I found a tolerable good curry-comb, and Jim he found a ratty old fiddle-bow, and a wooden leg.
The Marcher lord was still clad in his ratty black cloak and dented breastplate with its chipped enamel lightning.
4
Crazy, mad; ridiculous; slightly strange, eccentric; also (followed by about, on, or over), attracted to, infatuated with.
5
Annoyed, bad-tempered, irritable.
He got bad, he got ratty, he would take it out on people around him. He was mean when it turned against him.
noun
1
Synonym of knock down ginger (“prank of knocking on a front door and running away”).
Thesaurus
Synonyms
adjective — showing signs of wear and tear
Antonyms
Idioms & Phrases
Example Bank
501
We got an old tin lantern, and a butcher knife without any handle, and a bran-new Barlow knife worth two bits in any store, and a lot of tallow candles, and a tin candlestick, and a gourd, and a tin c
Wiktionary02
The Marcher lord was still clad in his ratty black cloak and dented breastplate with its chipped enamel lightning.
Wiktionary03
I was having exactly that thought on a ratty mock-leather couch in Islington.
Wiktionary04
I felt out of place with my ratty pants and wrinkled shirt.
Tatoeba · #1154698805
The communications were ratty though because the shuttle is being obscured by the station.
Tatoeba · #12036464Usage Notes
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