[syn: dowdy, frumpy, frumpish]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Dowdy \Dow"dy\, a. [Compar. Dowdier; superl. Dowdiest.]
[Scot. dawdie slovenly, daw, da sluggard, drab, Prov. E. dowd
flat, dead.]
Showing a vulgar taste in dress; awkward and slovenly in
dress; vulgar-looking. -- Dow"di*ly, adv. -- Dow"di*ness,
n.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Dowdy \Dow"dy\, n.; pl. Dowdies.
An awkward, vulgarly dressed, inelegant woman. --Shak.
Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
dowdy
adj 1: lacking in smartness or taste; "a dowdy grey outfit"; "a
clean and sunny but completely dowdy room"
2: primly out of date; "nothing so frumpish as last year's
gambling game" [syn: dowdy, frumpy, frumpish]
n 1: British marshal of the RAF who commanded the British air
defense forces that defeated the Luftwaffe during the
Battle of Britain (1882-1970) [syn: Dowding, Hugh
Dowding, Baron Hugh Caswall Tremenheere Dowding,
Dowdy]
2: deep-dish apple dessert covered with a rich crust [syn:
dowdy, pandowdy]