Raggy

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Appearing worn out and torn, with rough and uneven edges; having characteristics resembling old, tattered cloth
2. Showing signs of wear with frayed or shredded parts, resembling fabric that is badly damaged; embodying the qualities typical of ragged material
3. Describing something shabby or threadbare with parts hanging loosely or in tatters; exhibiting the distinct look or feel of rag-like texture or condition

Etymology: Raggy is simply rag plus the suffix "-y", the same ending found in words like "stony" or "grassy", and it has been in English since Old English as "raggiġ". The base word is the interesting part. Rag originally meant something quite different from a torn piece of cloth: in northern England it was a dialect word for a fog or mist carrying drizzling rain. The sense of a fraying, shredded scrap came from the same root, so a raggy edge is one that looks like it has been torn into the fine tatters of a wet, ragged mist. The fabric sense is the one most people now associate with the word, and it sits alongside a related sea-mist idea, since the dialect word has connections to a Danish term for sea vapour. Compare the English "roke", a word for mist or smoke, which may or may not share the same root.

Synonyms: tattered, ragged, frayed, shabby, worn

Antonyms: neat, trim, well-groomed, tidy, smart