shabby

/ˈʃæbi/

//ˈʃæbi// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"shabby" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“shabby” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #20,222. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#20,222
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
8
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of clothing, a place, etc.: unkempt and worn or otherwise in poor condition due to age or neglect; scruffy.

Corpus desk

Index EN-shabby · shabby · English

shabby · rank #20,222 · 8 variants · 8 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #20,222
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 8 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH securely

Nearest frequency peer: securely (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “shabby”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “shabby” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

shabby vs shay
67% similar
shabby vs shady
67% similar
shabby vs shaky
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for shabby
PropertyValue
Headwordshabby
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈʃæbi/
Letters6
Frequency rank#20,222
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs8
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “shabby”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).shabbylands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “securely” (#20,221), “seasoning” (#20,220), “Scot” (#20,219). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “shabby” is #20,222. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around shabby (IPA /ˈʃæbi/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #20,222 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for shabby, with forms such as "hsabby", "sahbby", and "shabbyy". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 8 confusable-pair relationships, "shay", "shady", "shaky", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: The adjective is derived from shab (“(obsolete except UK, dialectal) scaly skin disease; skin disease of sheep; crust forming over wound, scab”) + -y (suffix meaning ‘having the quality of’ forming adjectives). The verb is derived from the adjective. Cognat… The correct English form is shabby, spelled S-H-A-B-B-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of clothing, a place, etc.: unkempt and worn or otherwise in poor condition due to age or neglect; scruffy.
  2. 2
    Of a person: wearing ragged or very worn, and often dirty, clothing.
  3. 3
    Of a person, their behaviour, etc.: despicable, mean; also, not generous; stingy, tight-fisted.
  4. 4
    Poor in quality; also, showing little effort or talent.
  5. 5
    Poor in quality; also, showing little effort or talent.
  6. 6
    Poor in quality; also, showing little effort or talent.
  7. 7
    Poor in quality; also, showing little effort or talent.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how shabby appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. They lived in a tiny apartment, with some old, shabby furniture.
  2. [A]s there was a stream of people pouring into a shabby house not far from the entrance, he waited until they had made their way in, […]

Etymology

The adjective is derived from shab (“(obsolete except UK, dialectal) scaly skin disease; skin disease of sheep; crust forming over wound, scab”) + -y (suffix meaning ‘having the quality of’ forming adjectives). The verb is derived from the adjective. Cognates * Dutch schabbig (“poor, needy, shabby”) * Middle High German schebic (modern German schäbig (“shabby”)) * Middle Low German schabbich (“miserable”) (modern Low German schabbig, schäbbig) * Scots shabby (“in poor health, ill”) * Swedish sjabbig (“shabby, mangy, scruffy”), skabbig (“scabby”)

This word in other languages

astroso(Español)élimé(Français)schäbig(Deutsch)esbodegado(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hsabby
  • sahbby
  • shabbyy
  • shaby
  • shabyb
  • shbaby
  • shhabby
  • sshabby

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of shabby - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

hsabby2sahbby2shabbyy1shaby1shabyb2shbaby2shhabby1sshabby1
Edit distance from "shabby"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "shabby"?
"shabby" is spelled S-H-A-B-B-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈʃæbi/.
What does "shabby" mean?
As an adjective, "shabby" means: Of clothing, a place, etc.: unkempt and worn or otherwise in poor condition due to age or neglect; scruffy.
What words are commonly confused with "shabby"?
"shabby" is commonly confused with "shay", "shady", "shaky". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "shabby"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "shabby" is /ˈʃæbi/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "shabby"?
The adjective is derived from shab (“(obsolete except UK, dialectal) scaly skin disease; skin disease of sheep; crust forming over wound, scab”) + -y (suffix meaning ‘having the quality of’ forming adjectives). The verb is derived from the adjecti... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "shabby", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

salted#20,217solace#20,228spoons#20,232squire#20,234

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

retake8 variantsresale8 variantsstung8 variantsrefine8 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list