# shoddy

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈʃɒd.i/ · frequency rank #27,638

## Definitions
1. Of poor quality or construction.
2. Poor; low.
3. Pretentious, sham, counterfeit.
4. Ambitious by reason of newly-acquired wealth; nouveau riche.

## Etymology
* 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.

## Easily confused with
- **showy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shoddy-vs-showy)
- **shorty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shoddy-vs-shorty)
- **shady** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shady-vs-shoddy)

## Common misspellings (8)
`hsoddy`, `shdody`, `shhoddy`, `shoddyy`, `shody`, `shodyd`, `sohddy`, `sshoddy`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/shoddy