SHABBY-GENTEEL • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Shabby-genteel

... boxed, there is a large percentage which pass the time of their captivity in madly dashing themselves against the walls of their prison, and a boxed insect of this turn of mind presents a sorry sight in the morning, many stages, in fact, on the wrong side of "shabby-genteel." Then when, after a night's severe work, you are limping home in the morning, thinking how cold it is—until roused to action by the appearance of some unexpected insect—then, indeed, how much more cold and hollow seems the world, when, suddenly catching your tired foot in ...

— Practical Taxidermy • Montagu Browne