Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US black) depressed, miserable [down adv.¹ (1)].

1913		H. Kephart Our Southern Highlanders (1922) 359: That Thunderhead is the torn-downdest place!
1969		‘Iceberg Slim’ Pimp 277: Several Eastern pimps had gone to the coast in good shape. They had returned torn down.
1996		W.D. Myers Slam! 33: Grandma had another person in her [hospital] room, a woman who looked like she was really tore down.
1997–2001		Online Sl. Dict. 🌐 torn down adj 1. upset. Note: often pronounced more like ‘to’ down.’ (‘He’s been torn down since she dumped him.’) 2. ill. (‘I couldn’t go to work today – I was torn down.’).

2. (US black) unattractive, ugly.

1979		‘Iceberg Slim’ Airtight Willie and Me 107: Damn girl, you look tore down, like you been turning a slew of buck Spic berry pickers.
1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 145: Unattractiveness is often characterized in terms that suggest [...] the effects of prolonged drug abuse (wasted, tore down).

3. (drugs, also tore, tore back) drunk or intoxicated by a drug.

1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 176: Terms like ripped, tore down, twisted [...] provoke the feeling of devastation.
1989		Eble Campus Sl. Sept. 6: tore – drunk.
1994		N. McCall Makes Me Wanna Holler (1995) 44: That’s how tore-down, sloppy drunk she’d get.
1997–2001		Online Sl. Dict. 🌐 torn down adj [...] 3. very inebriated. (‘We all got torn down when he showed up with the keg.’).
1998		Eble Campus Sl. Apr. 10: tore back – see smashed – drunk.
2007		N. McCall Them (2008) 89: [...] even if it meant doing nothing but staying tore-down pissy-drunk.