- shabby (adj.)
- 1660s, from shab "scab" (now only dialectal, in reference to a disease of sheep), from Old English sceabb (see scab) + -y (2). With sound change as described in sh-. Cf. Middle Dutch schabbich, German schäbig "shabby." Related: Shabbily; shabbiness. Shabby-genteel "run-down but trying to keep up appearances" first recorded 1754.