ENGLISH
REFERENCE

shoddy

adj.
C1 Advanced US //ˈʃɑdi// UK //ʃˈɒdi// shod·dy Archaic Informal

adj. made or done very badly and without care. You use this to describe work or products that are poor quality and might break easily.

adj. characterised by poor craftsmanship or inferior materials; lacking care or attention to detail. Often used to describe physical goods or professional services that fail to meet basic standards.


SIMPLE

The repair work on the roof was shoddy and leaked immediately.

CONTEXTUAL

The investigation revealed that the building collapsed because of shoddy construction and a lack of safety inspections.

COMPLEX

While the marketing campaign was polished and expensive, the product itself was a shoddy imitation of its competitors, leading to a swift decline in consumer trust and brand value.

Synonyms
Origin

* Unknown, but possibly from shoad (“loose stone and rubble; fragments”), equivalent to shoad + -y; or possibly from the Arabic word for reuse. Shoad was of inferior quality for building. * The modern adjectival sense was apparently derived from inexpensive shoddy (“fabric from wool-processing byproduct”), which was not really suitable for (but was sometimes still used for) things such as military uniforms at the beginning of the US Civil War.

Usage

Typically used to modify nouns related to work, construction, or effort.

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