having the nap worn off so as to lay bare the threads of the warp and woof, as a fabric, garment, etc.

wearing threadbare clothes; shabby or poor

a threadbare old man.

meager, scanty, or poor

a threadbare emotional life.

hackneyed; trite; ineffectively stale

threadbare arguments.

adjective

fresh , new , unused , unworn

adjective

beat up * , damaged , dilapidated , dingy , dog-eared , down-at-the-heel * , faded , frowzy * , impaired , injured , old , ragged , ratty * , run-down , scruffy , seedy , shabby , shopworn , tacky , tattered , timeworn , used , used-up , worn-out , worse for wear , banal , bathetic , clich , clichd , clich-ridden , common , commonplace , conventional , dull , everyday , familiar , hackneyed , imitative , moth-eaten * , musty , overused , poor , set , stale , stereotyped , stock , tedious , tired , uncreative , well-worn , bedraggled , broken-down , decaying , decrepit , down-at-heel , mangy , rundown , scrubby , shoddy , sleazy , tatty , bromidic , corny , overworked , platitudinal , platitudinous , stereotypic , stereotypical , warmed-over , frayed , napless , pileworn , trite , worn