flea-bitten

[ flee-bit-n ]

/ ˈfliˌbɪt n /

bitten by a flea or fleas.

infested with fleas.

shabby; dilapidated; wretched.

(of a horse) having a light-colored coat with small, dark spots or streaks.

Origin of flea-bitten

First recorded in 1560–70

I found a pair of flea-bitten gray Flemish mares, weighing about twenty-eight hundred pounds.

The Fat of the Land |John Williams Streeter
"I guess that's the best rabbit dog anywhere around here," he said, as a flea-bitten cur trotted past.

A Yankee from the West |Opie Read
Let the flea-bitten old devil go, she's brought trouble enough already.

The Mahatma and the Hare |H. Rider Haggard
This was his remark: "There was never a flea-bitten mare that was a poor horse."

The Fat of the Land |John Williams Streeter

As they left the bank a cowboy rode up on a flea-bitten roan that was lathered with sweat, sadly roweled and leg-weary.

Rimrock Trail |J. Allan Dunn

flea-bitten

bitten by or infested with fleas

informal shabby or decrepit; mean

(of the coat of a horse) having reddish-brown spots on a lighter background