shoddy

/ˈʃɑdi/

/ˈʃɒdi/

Other forms: shoddier; shoddiest; shoddies

Shoddy refers to poor materials or quality. Maybe you passed on buying a house because it leaned in an odd way and various and sundry parts were falling off. Sounds like both the materials and workmanship were shoddy.

Shoddy originally referred to something that looked high-quality but wasn’t. Later, a certain type of cloth made with leftover pieces and rags was called a shoddy. While shoddy often refers to materials or workmanship, questionable ethics can also be referred to as shoddy, as in the shoddy principles of a slumlord or the shoddy morals of someone who steals from their friends.

Definitions of shoddy

1. adjective

   of inferior workmanship and materials
   synonyms: jerry-built

   weak

   wanting in physical strength
2. adjective

   cheap and poorly built
   synonyms: cheapjack, jerry-rigged, tawdry

   inferior

   of low or inferior quality
3. adjective

   designed to deceive or mislead either deliberately or inadvertently
   “shoddy business practices”

   synonyms: deceptive, misleading

   dishonest, dishonorable

   deceptive or fraudulent; disposed to cheat or defraud or deceive
4. noun

   reclaimed wool fiber
   type of:

   wool

   fiber sheared from animals (such as sheep) and twisted into yarn for weaving