1. torn pieces or shreds of cloth or other material
Usage: usually plural
2. a state of being badly damaged or ruined
Usage: figurative use; often in phrase ‘in tatters’

Examples

• His shirt was torn to tatters after the accident.
• The old flag hung in tatters from the pole.
• After the scandal, his reputation was in tatters.
• The paper was reduced to tatters by the shredder.
• Her confidence lay in tatters after the harsh criticism.
• The curtains were nothing but tatters after years of neglect.