down at heel

down at heel
a) In poor condition, especially due to having worn heels; worn-out, shabby.

A pair of Oxford-mixture trousers . . .fell in a series of not the most graceful folds over a pair of shoes sufficiently down at heel to display a pair of very soiled white stockings.

b) Shabbily dressed, slovenly; impoverished.

He was a queer shoot, again, in his unkempt longish hair and slovenly clothes, a sort of very vulgar down-at-heel American in appearance.


Wikipedia foundation.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • down-at-heel — /down euht heel /, adj. of a shabby, run down appearance; seedy: He is rapidly becoming a down at heel drifter and a drunk. Also, down at the heel, down at heels, down at the heels. [1695 1705] * * * …   Universalium

  • down-at-heel — • down at heel • down at the heel • down at the heels adj Poorly kept up or dressed shabby; not neat; sloppy. John is always down at the heels, but his sister is always very neat. Old houses sometimes look down at the heel …   Словарь американских идиом

  • down at heel — Someone who is down at heel is short of money. ( Down in heel is used in American English) …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • down-at-heel(s) — down′ at heel(s)′ or down′ at the heel(s)′ adj. of a shabby, run down appearance; seedy • Etymology: 1695–1705 …   From formal English to slang

  • down-at-heel — adj BrE unattractive and not well cared for, because of a lack of money ▪ The town today is a shabby, down at heel place …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • down-at-heel — adjective 1. ) looking old and no longer in good condition: down at heel offices 2. ) wearing old clothes, because you do not have enough money to buy new ones …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • down at heel — ► ADJECTIVE chiefly Brit. 1) (of a shoe) with the heel worn down. 2) shabby or impoverished …   English terms dictionary

  • down at heel — (Brit.) adj. badly dressed due to lack of money; shabbily dressed ; wearing old clothes or ragged clothes due to lack of money; dilapidated; of run down look …   English contemporary dictionary

  • down at heel — ▶ adjective 1 the resort looks down at heel: RUN DOWN, dilapidated, neglected, uncared for; seedy, insalubrious, squalid, slummy, wretched; …   Useful english dictionary

  • down-at-heel — adj 1 ILL DRESSED, frayed, tattered, ragged, drab, frowsy, dowdy, shabby, poor, slovenly 2 the pub looked down at heel dingy, run down, dilapidated, ramshackle, in disrepair, neglected, tumbledown, uncared for COLLOQ. tatty, tacky, seedy * * *… …   Useful english dictionary

  • down-at-heel — also down at heel ADJ GRADED: usu ADJ n Something that is down at heel is in a in bad condition because it has been used too much or has not been looked after properly. If you say that someone is down at heel, you mean that they are wearing old,… …   English dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”