different between frequent vs threadbare

English

Etymology 1

From Old French frequent, from Latin frequens (“crowded, crammed, frequent, repeated, etc.”), from Proto-Indo-European *bhrek- (“to cram together”).

Pronunciation

• (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?f?i?.kw?nt/

Adjective

frequent (comparative more frequent or frequenter, superlative most frequent or frequentest)

1. Done or occurring often; common.
2. Occurring at short intervals.
3. Addicted to any course of conduct; inclined to indulge in any practice; habitual; persistent.
4. (obsolete) Full; crowded; thronged.
   • 1603, Ben Jonson, Sejanus His Fall

     'Tis Caesar's will to have a frequent senate.

5. (obsolete) Often or commonly reported.
   • 1626, Philip Massinger, The Roman Actor

     'Tis frequent in the city he hath subdued / The Catti and the Daci.

Synonyms

• regular
• recurring
• continual
• steady

Antonyms

• rare
• uncommon

Related terms

• frequency
• frequently
• infrequent
• frequently asked question (FAQ)

Translations

Etymology 2

From Old French frequenter, from Latin frequentare (“to fill, crowd, visit often, do or use often, etc.”), from frequens (“frequent, crowded”)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /f???kw?nt/
• Rhymes: -?nt

Verb

frequent (third-person singular simple present frequents, present participle frequenting, simple past and past participle frequented)

1. (transitive) To visit often.

Derived terms

• frequenter
• unfrequented

Translations

Further reading

• frequent in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• frequent in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

German

Etymology

From Latin frequens.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [f?e?kv?nt]
• Hyphenation: fre?quent

Adjective

frequent (comparative frequenter, superlative am frequentesten)

1. (dated or medicine) frequent

Declension

Further reading

• “frequent” in Duden online

Old French

Adjective

frequent m (oblique and nominative feminine singular frequent or frequente)

1. frequent; often

Declension

Descendants

• ? English: frequent
• French: fréquent

English

Etymology

thread +? bare

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /????db??(?)/

Adjective

threadbare (comparative more threadbare, superlative most threadbare)

1. (of cloth) shabby, frayed and worn to an extent that warp threads show
   • 1857, Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit, Book 1, Chapter 9

     Such threadbare coats and trousers, such fusty gowns and shawls, such squashed hats and bonnets, such boots and shoes, such umbrellas and walking-sticks, never were seen in Rag Fair.

   • 2014, Paul Salopek, Blessed. Cursed. Claimed., National Geographic (December 2014)[1]

     Unkempt, in threadbare clothes, with holed shoes and sun-cured hide, my costume is permanent: the traveler, the man from far away.

2. damaged or shabby

   • Holy Virgin stood in the main Convent of Glatz, in rather a threadbare condition, when the Prussians first approached; the Jesuits, and ardently Orthodox of both sexes, flagitating Heaven and her with their prayers, that she would vouchsafe to keep the Prussians out.

3. (of a person) wearing clothes of threadbare material
4. banal or clichéd; trite or hackneyed

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:hackneyed

Translations