Dictionary

napworn en · ADJ

Etymology

From nap + worn.

Meanings

1. (of fabric) Having its fuzzy surface worn down or off.
   • 1822, Richard Henry Dana, The Idle Man, New York: Wiley & Halsted, “Letter from Town. No. 2,” pp. 56-57, his hat, which had grown nap-worn and round edged through use
   • He spent long hours in bed, his head hanging over the edge of the covers watching how the purfling of scorpions on the raw and napworn carpet went head and tail. 1979, Cormac McCarthy, Suttree, New York: Knopf Doubleday, published 2010, page 403:
   • napworn velvet
2. (of a person) Wearing clothing of worn material.
   • […] lichen grew on an ancient fence like an old old sheep’s coat; and stroking it with my hand once made me feel how old and lusterless and napworn you might be. 1950, William Goyen, chapter 2, in The House of Breath, New York: Persea Books, published 1986, page 7:

Forms

Synonyms

threadbare