(v. t.) A fibrous material obtained by "deviling," or tearing into fibers, refuse woolen goods, old stockings, rags, druggets, etc. See Mungo.
(v. t.) A fabric of inferior quality made of, or containing a large amount of, shoddy.
(a.) Made wholly or in part of shoddy; containing shoddy; as, shoddy cloth; shoddy blankets; hence, colloquially, not genuine; sham; pretentious; as, shoddy aristocracy.
Example Sentences:
(1) They demonstrate, at worst, a cavalier prejudice against work that the correspondents deemed shoddy.
(2) And you would be a shoddy parent indeed if you had no problem with your child slaving for the minimum wage when you could help them achieve something more remunerative.
(3) What makes Eastleigh so interesting now is that it's a test of how absorption into the national, rather than local, game – with all the shoddy compromises that coalition requires – has changed the way Liberal Democrat MPs operate and changed their relationship with what used to be their people.
(4) The film also brings in Weerasethakul's own family history, and childhood memories of lo-fi horror movies and TV shows (lots of red-eyed monsters, shot in darkness to cover up their shoddy costumes).
(5) Fifteen Indians lost their sight after a doctor used suspected infected equipment to remove cataracts at a free eye surgery camp, the latest incident to highlight the dangers of shoddy medical treatment in the country.
(6) That's interesting, because I've never seen a Financial Times reporter write a shoddy article about the markets and then justify it by saying, "it's not my fault, it's the FTSE 100 – it's just too hard!".
(7) Sarah Jackson Chief executive officer, Working Families • Your endorsement of Labour proposals to force employers to offer steady work to zero-hours staff after six months is shoddy thinking.
(8) They thoroughly deserve their place even if they had to survive a late scare here, largely because of shoddy finishing prior to that.
(9) Since he joined Dixons from Tesco in 2007 he's made a good stab at repairing the chain's reputation for shoddy customer service, and improving its financial position, leaving the company confident it can repay a make-or-break £160m bond later this year.
(10) Throw in delays and deaths at stadium construction sites, shoddy infrastructure, high murder rates and a presidential election, and it is clear that Brazil could come out of 2014 looking a lot worse than it went in.
(11) Besides Mohammed Ali and Mousani, the other men have all taken shoddy and overloaded boats that capsized, been caught by the authorities and escaped detention – all multiple times.
(12) Never mind the ubiquitous construction cranes or gangland-style killings, accusations of corruption and shoddy work – for now the city is basking in the glory of being home to one of the world's longest suspension bridges.
(13) In the 17th and 18th centuries, British shopkeepers tried to pass off shoddy English-made textiles as Indian in order to charge higher prices for them.
(14) Paul Smaldino, a cognitive scientist who led the work at the University of California, Merced, said: “As long as the incentives are in place that reward publishing novel, surprising results, often and in high-visibility journals above other, more nuanced aspects of science, shoddy practices that maximise one’s ability to do so will run rampant.” Study delivers bleak verdict on validity of psychology experiment results Read more The paper comes as psychologists and biomedical scientists are grappling with an apparent replication crisis , in which many high profile results have been shown to be unreliable.
(15) Councils already struggle to keep tabs on unscrupulous landlords and shoddy properties, she says.
(16) Elderly people have been living in “grim, shoddy and unsafe” conditions in four care homes run by a private company in Cornwall , the health and social care watchdog has found.
(17) Many teachers earn only $630 (£387) monthly, forcing them to do extra jobs, facilities were often shoddy and there was a shortage of instruments, said Juan Carlos Hernández, a veteran instructor.
(18) There is also this film on YouTube , which is far from slick – indeed it's annoyingly shoddy – but it does give a good summary of Freud's influences and development.
(19) England have requested a report from Fifa on the state of the pitch at the Arena da Amazônia, where they kick off their World Cup campaign against Italy on Saturday, amid concerns that the turf is worn and in shoddy condition.
(20) Anchoring the mood was the fact John Terry sustained ankle damage on a shoddy pitch.
Tawdry
Definition:
(superl.) Bought at the festival of St. Audrey.
(superl.) Very fine and showy in colors, without taste or elegance; having an excess of showy ornaments without grace; cheap and gaudy; as, a tawdry dress; tawdry feathers; tawdry colors.
(n.) A necklace of a rural fashion, bought at St. Audrey's fair; hence, a necklace in general.
Example Sentences:
(1) The citizenship debate is tawdry, conflated and ultimately pointless | Richard Ackland Read more On Wednesday, the prime minister criticised lawyers for backing terrorists.
(2) Writing in the Observer under the headline "Michael Gove, using history for politicking is tawdry" , Hunt seethes, "the government is using what should be a moment for national reflection and respectful debate to rewrite the historical record and sow political division."
(3) The BBC presenter confided to the Radio Times that he shares widespread public disdain for the "tawdry pretences" of modern politicians and the "green-bench pantomime" of Westminster politics.
(4) They were already emboldened by the tawdry campaign of fear used to stop Scottish independence.
(5) Rudd's "zero tolerance" for corruption, and his "disgust" for the tawdry shenanigans in NSW, were in the news cycle before the Icac recommendations – a deliberate bit of media management.
(6) Garvey finished with this somewhat tangential attack: "There are a lot of people who feel that Britain is a bit tawdry," going on to list its seamier side – reality telly, 24-hour drinking, a lapdancing club on every street corner, a Radio 5 Live presenter doing Woman's Hour (that last is my input) … "There are many people who have an asbo and the family are rather chuffed," she said.
(7) I wear a hijab and that’s going to be a problem, but once one person is able to do that, it then allows other people to dream too.” Though the never-ending campaign cycle and tawdry political fighting can breed apathy and disinterest in the American political process, Omar’s family fought for political representation, engendering in Omar a deep enthusiasm and optimism about the importance of the vote.
(8) This tawdry friendship of convenience, these pageants, lies and unethical compromises, may benefit Cameron and Xi, but they are an insult to the citizens of Britain, who cherish their hard-fought freedoms, and to those in China , who are still struggling courageously to achieve them.
(9) The prime minister who once promised a new politics is revealed as a shameless practitioner of the tawdry old art of government by patronage.
(10) Yesterday Bin Hammam claimed the allegations were a "tawdry manoeuvre" to discredit him ahead of the election, claiming for the first time the money was for administrative costs and travel expenses.
(11) It has become a symbol of intolerance, it faces a court battle with the federal government, and it has exemplified that most un-southern quality: tawdriness.
(12) Warrant suggests federal police are investigating Mal Brough over diary leak Read more Dreyfus, the shadow attorney general, told parliament the Australian people deserved answers about Brough’s “grubby” role in “one of the most tawdry episodes” of the Tony Abbott era.
(13) That is the tawdry secret that dare not speak its name."
(14) Since his conviction, politicians from all sides of the chamber have been, as the BBC always says, "united in their condemnation" of Walker and his tawdry struggle to hang on to his job and his £58,000 salary when he ought instead to have resigned immediately.
(15) "Press regulation is too important an issue to be answered by some tawdry deal cooked up at two in the morning in Ed Miliband's office," he told BBC Radio 4's PM programme on Tuesday.
(16) Bin Hammam, who previously labelled the investigation into the allegations a "tawdry manoeuvre" aimed at destabilising his election campaign, earlier muttered still more darkly.
(17) This apparently tawdry and peripheral form contains a hallucinatory history of the modern self.
(18) "It's getting a bit desperate isn't it when a club make an announcement that they've not had any interest in their players, trying to give the impression that they disapprove of the entire tawdry business.
(19) This is slightly disingenuous – in January, he and Trudie, his film-producer wife of 18 years and mother to four of his six children, gave a joint interview to Harper's Bazaar in which he claimed: "I don't think pedestrian sex is very interesting… we like tawdry."
(20) And the FA itself might finally recognise its responsibility to football’s fans and lead a boycott of Fifa , withdrawing in all but name from the committees and procedures of the tawdry, discredited outfit that represents the world’s favourite game.