schabouwelijk

Dutch edit

Etymology edit

Possibly from Dutch schabouw (“a position of the sails of a mill”) +‎ -lijk, from French escabeau, from Latin scabellum, diminutive form of scamnum, from Proto-Indo-European *skap-. This would make sense phonetically but it would be unclear how the meaning of the words transitioned from "a position of the sails of a mill" to "miserable".

Pronunciation edit

Audio (file)

Adjective edit

schabouwelijk (comparative schabouwelijker, superlative schabouwelijkst)

(Belgium) poor
Belgische soccer journalist op VRT: "het was een schabouwelijke eerste helft"
(please add an English translation of this usage example)

Synonyms edit

(poor): slecht

References edit

Van Dale, 11. edition (1984)