rat·ty

(răt′ē)

adj. rat·ti·er, rat·ti·est

1. Of or characteristic of rats.

2. Infested with rats.

3. Dilapidated; shabby.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ratty

(ˈrætɪ)

adj, -tier or -tiest

1. informal Brit and NZ irritable; annoyed

2. informal (of the hair) unkempt or greasy

3. slang US and Canadian shabby; dilapidated

4. slang

a. angry

b. mad

5. of, like, or full of rats

ˈrattily adv

ˈrattiness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

rat•ty

(ˈræt i)

adj. -ti•er, -ti•est.

1. full of rats.

2. of or characteristic of a rat.

3. wretched; shabby.

4. irritable; angry.

[1860–65]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.	1.	ratty - of or characteristic of rats
	2.	ratty - showing signs of wear and tear; "a ratty old overcoat"; "shabby furniture"; "an old house with dirty windows and tatty curtains" moth-eaten, shabby, tatty worn - affected by wear; damaged by long use; "worn threads on the screw"; "a worn suit"; "the worn pockets on the jacket"
	3.	ratty - dirty and infested with rats dirty, soiled, unclean - soiled or likely to soil with dirt or grime; "dirty unswept sidewalks"; "a child in dirty overalls"; "dirty slums"; "piles of dirty dishes"; "put his dirty feet on the clean sheet"; "wore an unclean shirt"; "mining is a dirty job"; "Cinderella did the dirty work while her sisters preened themselves"

ratty

adjective irritable, cross, angry, annoyed, pissed (U.S. & Canad. slang), crabbed, impatient, snappy, pissed off (taboo slang), touchy, tetchy, testy, chippy (informal), short-tempered I was beginning to get a bit ratty and fed up.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

ratty

adjective

Slang. Showing signs of wear and tear or neglect:

bedraggled, broken-down, decaying, decrepit, dilapidated, dingy, down-at-heel, faded, mangy, rundown, scrubby, scruffy, seedy, shabby, shoddy, sleazy, tattered, tatty, threadbare.

Informal: tacky.

Idioms: all the worse for wear, gone to pot, past cure.

Translations

irascibilemalmostosomordace

ratty

[ˈrætɪ] ADJ (rattier (compar) (rattiest (superl)))

1. (Brit) (= bad-tempered) to be/get ratty → estar/ponerse de malas
he was pretty ratty about it → se picó mucho por ello

2. (US) (= shabby) → andrajoso

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

ratty

[ˈræti] adj

(British) (= irritable) → grincheux/euse

(US) (= shabby) → miteux/euse

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

ratty

adj (+er) (inf)

(Brit: = irritable) → gereizt

(US: = run-down) → verlottert (inf)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

ratty

[ˈrætɪ] adj (-ier (comp) (-iest (superl))) (Brit) (fam) → incavolato/a
to get ratty → incavolarsi

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

We got an old tin lantern, and a butcher-knife with- out any handle, and a bran-new Barlow knife worth two bits in any store, and a lot of tallow candles, and a tin candlestick, and a gourd, and a tin cup, and a ratty old bedquilt off the bed, and a reticule with needles and pins and beeswax and buttons and thread and all such truck in it, and a hatchet and some nails, and a fishline as thick as my little finger with some mon- strous hooks on it, and a roll of buckskin, and a leather dog-collar, and a horseshoe, and some vials of medicine that didn't have no label on them; and just as we was leaving I found a tolerable good curry-comb, and Jim he found a ratty old fiddle-bow, and a wooden leg.

View in context

There's boating with Ratty, a feast with Badger and high jinx on the open road with that reckless ruffian, Mr Toad.

Open air performances of Wind in the Willows

THE Restoring Ratty project, to reintroduce water voles in the Kielder area, has won a national award.

NATIONAL CONSERVATION AWARD FOR RESTORING RATTY PROJECT

"We all need to get behind the Wildlife Trusts, rise up and call for a wilder future - otherwise it'll be too late to save Toad, Ratty and all the residents of the riverbank and beyond" - Stephen Fry on The Wind In The Willows.

QUOTES OF THE DAY

RATTY can't burrow into riverbanks covered with sheets of metal.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO RATTY AND HIS GANG?

The lives of Badger, Ratty, Mole and Toad are disrupted by roads, river pollution and intensive agriculture, while habitats have been destroyed or broken up.

Weeping Willows; Ad's all-star cast voice beloved characters' tale of nature's plight

The lives of Badger, Ratty, Mole and Toad are disrupted by roads, river pollution and intensive A-agriculture, while habitats have been destroyed or broken up.

Much-loved Wind in the Willows characters struggle for survival in poignant ad; The Wildlife Trusts campaign stars Sir David Attenborough, Stephen Fry, Catherine Tate and Alison Steadman

IT'S set in a school for 16 to 17-year-olds and Mole, Toad and Ratty are children, or I should say young adults, at that school.

I'm no Denzel Washington, but my career has been amazing... AWARD-WINNING PERFORMER CLIVE ROWE CHATS TO MARION MCMULLEN ABOUT DOCTOR WHO, TRACY BEAKER AND THE ART OF BEING A HIP HOP BADGER

I think he's like one of those great teachers you come across at school he is very helpful towards Ratty Mole.

I'm no Denzel Washington, but my career has been amazing... AWARD-WINNING PERFORMER CLIVE ROWE CHATS TO MARION MCMULLEN ABOUT DOCTOR WHO, TRACY BEAKER AND THE ART OF BEING A HIP HOP BADGER

One driver who contacted theabout the conditions on his bus said drivers were becoming "ratty" after having to spend hours in stuffy cabins in hot weather.

Arriva bus drivers banned from wearing shorts say stuffy uniform is making them 'ratty'; One driver claimed staff were told they would lose a day's pay if they turned up to work in shorts

I was thinking of using it on another old Mauser sporter I have which has a pretty ratty bore.

Mauser barrel step removal

"I'm lovely in some interviews, I'm a little ratty in others.

Hugh Grant admits film acting makes him 'sad'