tatterdemalion

First attested circa 1608. An early spelling was tatter-de-mallion, rhymed with Italian.^[1] The first part of the word is tatter; the origin of the second part is uncertain; Ebenezer Cobham Brewer suggested it might be from de maillot (“shirt”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /tætədəˈmeɪliɒn/

• Audio (Southern England):

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tatterdemalion (comparative more tatterdemalion, superlative most tatterdemalion)

1. Tattered.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:ramshackle

   • 1878 June–October, Robert Louis Stevenson, “[The Rajah’s Diamond.] Story of the Bandbox.”, in New Arabian Nights , volume I, London: Chatto & Windus, , published 1882, →OCLC, page 174:

     The house, on his arrival, seemed in some confusion, as if a catastrophe had happened in the family; and the servants clustered together in the hall, and were unable, or perhaps not altogether anxious, to suppress their merriment at the tatterdemalion figure of the secretary.

   • 1913 [1912], Bernard Miall, transl., The Psychology of Revolution, New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, translation of La Révolution Française et la Psychologie des Révolutions by Gustave Le Bon, page 18:

     For the same reason the kings of Europe could not resist the tatterdemalion soldiers of the Convention.

   • 1918, H. L. Mencken, In Defense of Women‎:

     Thus, too, we have the woman social reformer, trailing along ridiculously behind a tatterdemalion posse of male utopians, each with something to sell.

tatterdemalion (plural tatterdemalions)

1. A person with tattered clothing.

   Synonym: ragamuffin

   • 1606, Thomas Dekker, The Seven Deadly Sinnes of London‎, London: Nathaniel Butter:

     […] we haue ordeined that through euery ward […] there be erected one sound, sufficient, and well painted whipping poste, the very sight of which wil not only scarre them, worse then the scowting face of a Serieant being seen peeping through a red lettice, frights a yong gallant, but also in time driue the whole band of Tatterdemalions from poste to piller.

   • 1884, John Ruskin, “By the Rivers of Waters”, in “Our Fathers Have Told Us.”: Sketches of the History of Christendom for Boys and Girls who have been Held at Its Fonts, part I (The Bible of Amiens), Orpington, Kent: George Allen, →OCLC, pages 30–31:

     St. Martin [of Tours] looks round, first, deliberately;—becomes aware of a tatterdemalion and thirsty-looking soul of a beggar at his chair side, who has managed to get his cup filled somehow, also—by a charitable lacquey. St. Martin turns his back on the Empress, and hobnobs with him!

   • 1886, Henry James, The Princess Casamassima, London: Macmillan and Co.:

     She took romantic fancies to vagabonds of either sex, attempted to establish social relations with them, and was the cause of infinite agitation to the gentleman who lived near her in the Crescent, who was always smoking at the window, and who reminded Hyacinth of Mr. Micawber. She received visits that were a scandal to the Crescent, and Hyacinth neglected his affairs, whatever they were, to see what tatterdemalion would next turn up at her door.

   • 1887, Isabel F. Hapgood, transl., Les Misérables‎, translation of original by Victor Hugo:

     Rags mounted guard over the treasure. Virtue rendered these tatterdemalions resplendent.

   • 1899, Theodore Roosevelt, The Rough Riders:

     […] we found hundreds of Cuban insurgents, a crew of as utter tatterdemalions as human eyes ever looked on, armed with every kind of rifle in all stages of dilapidation. It was evident, at a glance, that they would be no use in serious fighting.

   • 2002, Donna Tartt, The Little Friend, page 66:

     Whenever his name was mentioned, she had a vague impression of a bearded tatterdemalion like Ben Gunn in Treasure Island, leading a lonely existence on some bleak, salty islet, his pants in rags and his wristwatch corroded from the seawater.

• “tatterdemalion”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “tatterdemalion”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.