moth-eaten

adjective

ˈmȯth-ˌē-tᵊn How to pronounce moth-eaten (audio)
Definition of moth-eatennext
1
as in obsolete
having passed its time of use or usefulness moth-eaten scientific theories that no one's believed in ages

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in dilapidated
showing signs of advanced wear and tear and neglect a man who's been wearing the same moth-eaten clothes for decades

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in stereotyped
used or heard so often as to be dull an uncle who tells the same moth-eaten stories every Thanksgiving

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for moth-eaten
  1. obsolete
  2. dilapidated
  3. stereotyped
  4. antiquated
  5. neglected
  6. archaic
  7. tired
  8. medieval
Adjective
  • Parks & Recreation Director Terry Moore said one of the playground’s slides broke in April, and many parts needed to fix it were obsolete.
    Aaron Sullivan, Austin American-Statesman, 21 Nov. 2024
  • City documents showed the work is needed because some components of the plant's cooling infrastructure are outdated and costly to operate, while others are obsolete or no longer have replacement parts available.
    Michael Salerno, The Arizona Republic, 21 Nov. 2024
Definition of obsolete
Adjective
  • While Abang quietly guts chickens in the Pudu wet market and takes odd jobs for half the wages a legal worker would receive, Adik is seen fleeing from a raid by immigration police in a dilapidated apartment block.
    Richard Kuipers, Variety, 19 Nov. 2024
  • Her sweet idiot of a neighbor stood on the unlit front porch of his dilapidated brick rancher as the sun dipped below the horizon and shadows stretched to swallow him.
    Carly Tagen-Dye, People.com, 19 Nov. 2024
Definition of dilapidated
Adjective
  • Chicano artists also critically reexamined stereotyped figures, such as the pachuco and pachuca, and retold current and historic events through artworks that questioned hegemonic narratives.
    Mary Thomas, ARTnews.com, 3 Sep. 2019
  • Covino is also tasked with the least comedic role and excels at imbuing his character with enough nuance to be the one actor who transcends the script’s stereotyped trappings.
    Marya E. Gates, IndieWire, 11 Sep. 2024
Definition of stereotyped
Adjective
  • This antiquated discussion about women’s prowess behind the camera can be summed up with this: Women’s work as cinematographers is comparable to (and in other cases, better than) men’s.
    Stacy L. Smith, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Nov. 2024
  • Now, the company is striving to apply these same principles of convenience, affordability and ease of access to yet another antiquated business: retail pharmacy.
    Dr. Sai Balasubramanian, M.D., J.D., Forbes, 14 Oct. 2024
Definition of antiquated
Adjective
  • Soft landing optimism has led the 2024 stock rally to broaden as of late into more neglected areas of the market such as small-caps.
    Krystal Hur, CNN, 9 Oct. 2024
  • Meanwhile, a team aiming to restore a neglected and earthquake-damaged archaeological site in Turkey came across a tiny 3,500-year-old cuneiform tablet.
    Ashley Strickland, CNN, 17 Aug. 2024
Definition of neglected
Adjective
  • In this still, Ella Hunt (who plays Gilda Radner in the film) takes a ride on the archaic crane.
    Beatrice Verhoeven, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Nov. 2024
  • Before cuneiform, however, there was an archaic script using abstract pictographic signs called proto-cuneiform.
    Ashley Strickland, CNN, 5 Nov. 2024
Definition of archaic
Adjective
  • But the media's use of the tired relegation narrative to generate jeopardy misses a broader, more interesting question about what drove the Catalan to commit more emphatically than his last two deals.
    Zak Garner-Purkis, Forbes, 23 Nov. 2024
  • The upcoming holiday season is the perfect excuse to upgrade your tired cookware collection and kitchen appliances.
    Maggie Horton, People.com, 21 Nov. 2024
Definition of tired
Adjective
  • The gorgeous frozen lake feels like skating right into a fairytale thanks to the Bled Island and medieval castle overlooking the ice rink.
    Kaitlyn McInnis, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2024
  • The 2019 fire destroyed the spire, roof, and intricate wooden beams of the medieval structure, requiring precise historical reconstruction.
    Yaakov Katz, Newsweek, 28 Nov. 2024
Definition of medieval
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Thesaurus Entries Near moth-eaten

mothballs

moth-eaten

mother

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Moth-eaten.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/moth-eaten. Accessed 3 Dec. 2024.

Copy Citation

Share

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Plural and Possessive Names: A Guide

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

Terroir, Oenophile, & Magnum: Ten Words About Wine

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)

9 Superb Owl Words

15 Words That Used to Mean Something Different
See All

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
sweet smart pug puppy dog sitting in front of blackboard with chalk question marks
Commonly Confused Words Quiz Vol. 3 Do you have a (flare/flair) for choosing the righ...