ˈshabby-genˈteel, a.
Attempting to look genteel and keep up appearances in spite of shabbiness. Also absol.
| 1754 in Connoisseur No. 25. 146 The numerous fraternity of the shabby-genteel, who are the chief support of the clothiers in Monmouth-street. 1800 H. Wells Const. Neville (ed. 2) II. 342 A tall meagre female,..whose habiliments might come under the description of shabby genteel. 1821 W. Cobbett Rur. Rides (1885) I. 50 Shabby⁓genteel houses, surrounded with dead fences, and things called gardens. 1868 Alex. Smith Last Leaves 76 He has..a feeling of respect for shabby-genteel virtues. 1874 J. T. Micklethwaite Mod. Par. Churches 341 A shabby-genteel imitation of an expensive building. |
Hence shabby-gentility.
| 1829 Carlyle German Playwrights in Foreign Rev. III. 115 Old threadbare material, scoured up into a state of shabby-gentility. 1836 Dickens Sk. Boz, Charac. x, This compound of the two—this shabby-gentility. 1898 G. B. Shaw Plays Pleasant & Unpleasant II. 156 The shifts of impecunious shabby-gentility. |