down-at-heelednessn.
/ˌdaʊnətˈhiːldnᵻs/, U.S. /ˌdaʊnətˈhil(d)nᵻs/ The quality of being down at heel; shabbiness.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > condition of matter > bad condition of matter > [noun] > condition of having lost freshness > shabbiness
shabbiness1711
seediness1832
secondhandinessa1849
down-at-heeledness1916
1916 E. R. Pennell Nights 99 The dinginess and general down-at-heeledness of Venice which bored the men from Munich to extinction.
1924 J. Galsworthy On Expression 7 What an expressive variant of the word ‘dowdy’..is the word ‘daverdy’..! Dowdy suggests the flannel petticoat, the thick, the dusty appearance; daverdy a sea-green, trailing, down-at-heeledness.
2012 S. Hartnett Life in Ten Houses (Electronic ed.) I've favoured a down-at-heeledness in every neighbourhood I've lived in since.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1916