tatterdemalion
Person in rags
A tatterdemalion is a person dressed in ragged, tattered clothing—someone whose appearance suggests poverty or neglect.
The word is literary and old-fashioned, carrying a whimsical quality that softens its description of shabbiness: A tatterdemalion figure shuffled down the alley.
As an adjective, it describes things that are ragged or dilapidated: the tatterdemalion curtains of an abandoned house.
Shabby, unkempt child
- waifAbandoned, neglected child
- urchinNeglected street child
- vagrantHomeless itinerant person
- drifterAimless, rootless traveler
tramp · hobo · wanderer · itinerant · outcast · nomad · rover · wayfarer
Worn until transparent
shredded · ripped · moth-eaten · patched · holey · shabby · dilapidated · disheveled
Extremely lacking in money
- indigentExtremely poor, lacking necessities
- pennilessCompletely without money
- needyWanting in essentials
- penuriousExcessively frugal or poor
poverty-stricken · down-and-out · beggarly · dispossessed · homeless · poorhouse · beggar · alms
ragamuffin
Shabby, unkempt child
drifter · tramp · hobo · wanderer · itinerant · outcast · nomad · rover · wayfarer · transient
threadbare
Worn until transparent
raggedy · shredded · ripped · moth-eaten · patched · holey · shabby · dilapidated · disheveled · scruffy
impoverished
Extremely lacking in money
- indigentExtremely poor, lacking necessities
- pennilessCompletely without money
- needyWanting in essentials
penurious · poverty-stricken · down-and-out · beggarly · dispossessed · homeless · poorhouse · beggar · alms · charity
archaic
Belonging to earlier times
- old-fashionedBelonging to earlier times
- obsoleteNo longer in use
- outmodedNo longer in fashion
dated · quaint · old-timey · Dickensian · Victorian · bygone · literary · rare · dusty · fusty
tatterdemaliondandy
Fashion-obsessed gentleman
fop · beau · fashion plate · clotheshorse · aristocrat