English Explanatory Dictionary

dog-eared

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Of a page in a book or other publication: having its corner folded down, either due to having been read many times, or intentionally as a sort of bookmark.
  2. Ragged, worn-out; also, hackneyed, tired.

Pronunciation

/ˈdɒɡɪəd/ /ˈdɔɡˌɪ(ə)ɹd/ /ˈdɑɡ-/ En-us-dog-eared.oga

Word forms

dog-eared more dog-eared most dog-eared dogeared dog eared dog's-eared

Etymology

From dog + eared (“having ears (of a specified type)”), modelled after dog’s-ear (obsolete), due to the similarity of their appearance to the folded ears of certain dogs. The word is analysable as dog-ear (“to fold the corner of a book’s page”) + -ed (suffix forming possessional adjectives) (dog-ear is attested in print later than dog-eared).

Synonyms

clapped out damaged defective deteriorated dilapidated effete faulty munted outworn passé past it past one's prime raddled ragged ravaged rinky-dink rough shabby stale tired unimproved wasted weakened wrecked wrecksome worn worn-out worsened banal bathetic bromidic cheesy clichéd commonplace corny dog-eared hackneyed hoary overdone overused overworked pat played out shopworn threadbare timeworn trite warmed-over well-worn

Antonyms

fresh original new all-new brand new brand spanking new cherry freshly made green hot mint nascent newish new-laid novel pristine red-hot unused verdurous virgin virginal youthful

Related words

dog-ear well-thumbed

Derived words

dog-ear dog-earedness
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on D Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary