tatterdemalion Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a dirty shabbily clothed urchin
    ragamuffin.
  2. adjective satellite worn to shreds; or wearing torn or ragged clothing
    tattered.
    • a man in a tattered shirt
    • the tattered flag
    • tied up in tattered brown paper
    • a tattered barefoot boy
    • a tatterdemalion prince
  3. adjective satellite in deplorable condition
    dilapidated; broken-down; tumble-down; ramshackle; derelict; bedraggled.
    • a street of bedraggled tenements
    • a broken-down fence
    • a ramshackle old pier
    • a tumble-down shack

WordNet


Tat`ter*de*mal"ion noun
Etymology
Tatter + OF. desmaillier to break the meshes of, to tear: cf. OF. maillon long clothes, swadding clothes, F. maillot. See Tatter, and Mail armor.
Definitions
  1. A ragged fellow; a ragamuffin. L'Estrange.

Webster 1913