- clothes or pieces of cloth that are badly tornOxford Collocations Dictionaryverb + tatters
- lie in
- hang in
- leave something in
- …
- in tatters
- rags and tatters
Word Originlate Middle English (also in the singular meaning ‘scrap of cloth’): from Old Norse tǫtrar ‘rags’.Want to learn more?
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Idioms
See tatters in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionaryin tatters
- torn in many places
- His clothes were in tatters.
- damaged too badly to be saved synonym in shreds
- Her reputation was in tatters.
- The government's education policy lies in tatters.
Extra Examples- Her marriage now lay in tatters.
- With their plans now in tatters, they gave up.
- an injury that left his dreams in tatters
Check pronunciation:
tatters