shitty

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈʃɪti/ (UK); /ˈʃɪti/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is from shit with the suffix -y;^[2][3][4] the older adjective was shitten.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Defiled with excrement: 1924.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Contemptible, worthless, the sense of shitten in the OED, is from 1935.^[5] The SOED dates the sense disgusting, contemptible, awful to the early 20th century,^[3] and the RHWU dates the word to 1940–45.^[4] In American Heritage it covers very poor quality, contemptible behaviour, bad luck and feeling miserable.^[6]

Timeline

• 1924 – soiled with excrement.^[5]
• 1935 – contemptible.^[5]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. (vulgar slang) Of very poor quality; inferior.
2. (vulgar slang) Contemptible or despicable.
3. (vulgar slang) Unpleasant or unfortunate.
4. (vulgar slang) Feeling miserable or unwell.

Word family

• shittiness

Related words

• shit
• crappy
• lousy

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin