What does tattered mean?
Word: Tattered
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Tattered means old and torn, with ragged edges or holes, usually from a lot of use.
Synonyms: ragged, torn
Antonyms: new, neat
How do you spell tattered?
Syllables: tat - tered
Tricky part: Two t's come after the first a in tattered. Tatered, with one t there, is the usual mistake.
Watch out for: tatered, tatterd
Memory tip: A tattered kite has lost strips of its cloth, but the word never loses a t: both stay together in the middle.
Tattered in a sentence
Example 1: My favourite storybook is tattered from being read so often.
Example 2: The scarecrow wore a tattered kurta and a straw hat.
Example 3: A tattered flag still hung from the old fort wall.
Fun Fact
The word comes from tatters, an old word for torn scraps of cloth. Tatterdemalion is an old, funny word for a person dressed in rags.
Practise the CREST Way
Sound Check
Which of the following words does not rhyme with the given word?
tattered
a) watered
b) flattered
c) scattered
d) chattered
Show answer
a) watered. Watered is said with the vowel of saw, not the short a of cat, so it does not match tattered.
Jumble Tumble
Choose the correct sequence of the jumbled letters to form a meaningful word:
tetedrat 12345678
a) 67382145
b) 17382645
c) 17582643
d) 17382465
Show answer
b) 17382645. The a at place 7 goes second, and the d at place 5 ends the word.
Word Champ
Which of the words cannot be made using the letters in the given word?
tattered
a) street
b) rated
c) treat
d) trade
Show answer
a) street. Without an s among its letters, tattered cannot give street.
Spell Spies
Choose the option with no spelling errors:
a) tattered, faeded, wrinkled, staned
b) tattered, faded, wrinkeld, staind
c) tattered, faded, wrinkled, stained
d) tattered, fadid, wrincled, stained
Show answer
c) tattered, faded, wrinkled, stained. Faded, wrinkled and stained appear correctly together only once.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which thing in this list is most likely to be tattered?
a) a shirt fresh from the tailor
b) a gift still in its shiny paper
c) a kite left in a tree for a year
d) a bag bought from the shop today
Show answer
c) a kite left in a tree for a year
2. How can you stop a favourite book from getting tattered?
a) cover it with brown paper
b) let the puppy chew it
c) fold its pages in half
d) leave it out in the rain
Show answer
a) cover it with brown paper
