shabby-genteel

1. 1.

   trying to maintain dignity and self respect despite shabbiness

   Similarproud

Questions about shabby-genteel

What does shabby-genteel mean?

shabby-genteel means "trying to maintain dignity and self respect despite shabbiness".

How many syllables are in shabby-genteel?

shabby-genteel has 4 syllables: shab-by--gen-teel. The stress falls on "by-".

Is shabby-genteel a common word?

shabby-genteel is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.