How to Use tattered in a Sentence

tattered

adjective
  • Eva Tillett had tied her pants up with a length of tattered white rope.
    — Sonya Bennett-Brandt, WIRED, 22 Dec. 2022
  • Tired, tattered bathrobes should be left in the closet, or the trash.
    — Katharine K. Zarrella, WSJ, 16 Jan. 2021
  • He's seen clad in only tattered jeans with a chain and lock around his neck.
    — Craig Hlavaty, Houston Chronicle, 6 Apr. 2020
  • The camp is made up of rows of tattered plastic tents pitched on bare earth.
    — Jane Arraf, NPR, 11 Apr. 2026
  • Petals become tattered and fall apart.
    — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 21 Sep. 2025
  • The tattered and stained pages were held together by a binder clip.
    — Mike Brest, Washington Examiner, 16 Mar. 2021
  • Inside, the boy sat on the floor atop a tattered mattress ripped at the seams.
    — Gina Kaufman, Detroit Free Press, 28 Oct. 2022
  • By the end of the summer my catalogs were tattered and worn.
    — Neil Sperry, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 Oct. 2025
  • The jack-o'-lantern, which sits atop a ghoulish body draped in tattered black robes, also speaks.
    — Kalhan Rosenblatt, NBC News, 4 Oct. 2023
  • The woman warmed herself with a worn blanket and a tattered coat.
    — Crocker Stephenson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 11 Dec. 2017
  • This could be a tattered sofa, a wobbly table, or a too-small area rug.
    — Jessica Bennett, Better Homes & Gardens, 5 Dec. 2025
  • Officers found him in tattered clothes a block away from the apartment.
    — Caleb Parke, Fox News, 6 July 2018
  • Throw on some tattered burlap and a pageboy hat and belt out your loneliness, girl.
    — Vogue, 20 Oct. 2017
  • When staring sadly at your tattered shoes, spend more time focused on the stars.
    — Philip Chard, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 12 Apr. 2018
  • Skyridge will send you its tattered battle plans during its long trip back to Utah.
    — Kyle Newman, Denver Post, 13 Sep. 2025
  • Her border collie, Mae, leads the way up the steps and through the tattered screen door.
    — Noah Davis, The Christian Science Monitor, 11 Aug. 2022
  • Children play in the bare spaces between tattered tents.
    — Jane Arraf, NPR, 11 Apr. 2026
  • The women stood on the doorsteps with their rumps to the crowd, skirts lifted to flash tattered green knickers.
    — Literary Hub, 13 Mar. 2026
  • But what catches my attention is a tattered brown leather diary the size of my hand.
    — David Whiting, Orange County Register, 12 Jan. 2017
  • To the south, the soldier walks home-bound; humbled, his clothes tattered and gun falling to his side.
    — The New York Times, NOLA.com, 25 June 2017
  • The old turf was so tattered and torn that concrete was visible beneath some rips.
    — Don Norcross, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Aug. 2025
  • The field was dry, the winter grass patchy in spots, and the sun kept peeking through a tattered cover of clouds.
    — Bill Morris, Detroit Free Press, 28 Jan. 2024
  • Amalie fell asleep with the tattered edge of her old security blanket gripped in her hand.
    — Sarah Braunstein, The New Yorker, 21 July 2024
  • Evans told Gabe to wait outside in a children’s play area filled with sticky toys and tattered board games.
    — cleveland.com, 23 Sep. 2019
  • But the tattered state of the alliance system is not Trump’s doing alone.
    — Mira Rapp-Hooper, Foreign Affairs, 10 Feb. 2020
  • Santos showed me the tattered wisp of a piece of paper with his uncle's name and phone number on it.
    — Juju Chang, ABC News, 9 Nov. 2021
  • My tattered copy of the book has Ann’s acknowledgements at the front.
    — Literary Hub, 17 Mar. 2026
  • By the time the war ended, Gorongosa was a tattered wreckage.
    — Steve Donoghue, The Christian Science Monitor, 19 July 2017
  • Boyfriend Pants are not always schleppy and tattered from years of private wear and love.
    — Beca Grimm, GQ, 2 Aug. 2017
  • Across the street, a tattered Oceanview Plaza banner flapped in the wind.
    — Alicia Victoria Lozano, NBC News, 15 Feb. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tattered.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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