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dowdy

   Also found in: Encyclopedia 0.01 sec.
dow·dy  (doud)
adj. dow·di·er, dow·di·est
1. Lacking stylishness or neatness; shabby: a dowdy gray outfit.
2. Old-fashioned; antiquated.
n. pl. dow·dies
A dowdy person; a frump.

[From Middle English doude, immoral, unattractive, or shabbily dressed woman.]

dowdi·ly adv.
dowdi·ness n.
dowdy·ish adj.

dowdy [ˈdaʊdɪ]
adj -dier, -diest
(Clothing & Fashion) (esp of a woman's dress) drab, unflattering, and old-fashioned
n pl -dies
(Clothing & Fashion) a dowdy woman
[dowd slut, of unknown origin]
dowdily  adv
dowdiness  n
dowdyish  adj
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.Dowdy - British marshal of the RAF who commanded the British air defense forces that defeated the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain (1882-1970)
2.dowdy - deep-dish apple dessert covered with a rich crust
pastry - any of various baked foods made of dough or batter
Adj.1.dowdy - lacking in smartness or taste; "a dowdy grey outfit"; "a clean and sunny but completely dowdy room"
styleless, unstylish - lacking in style or elegance; "a styleless way of dressing"; "expensive but styleless country tweeds"; "wearing unstylish clothes"
2.dowdy - primly out of date; "nothing so frumpish as last year's gambling game"
unfashionable, unstylish - not in accord with or not following current fashion; "unfashionable clothes"; "melodrama of a now unfashionable kind"

dowdy
adjective frumpy, old-fashioned, shabby, drab, tacky (U.S. informal), unfashionable, dingy, unhip (slang), frumpish, ill-dressed, frowzy Her clothes were clean but dowdy.
smart, trim, neat, fashionable, chic, spruce, well-dressed, dressy
Translations
dowdy [ˈdaʊdɪ] ADJ (dowdier (compar) (dowdiest (superl))) [person] → anticuado, trasnochado; [clothes] → trasnochado, pasado de moda

dowdy [ˈdaʊdi] adj [clothes] → démodé(e); [person] → mal fagoté(e)
Dow-Jones average [ˌdaʊdʒəʊnzˈævərɪdʒ] n (US)indice m Dow-Jones

dowdy
adj (+er)ohne jeden Schick

dowdy [ˈdaʊdɪ] adj (-ier (comp) (-iest (superl))) → scialbo/a
dowdy [ˈdaʊdɪ] adj (-ier (comp) (-iest (superl))) → scialbo/a

dowdy
adj dowdy [ˈdaudi]
(of dress etc) not smart; unfashionable. slonserig قَليل الأناقَه، عَتيق старомоден neelegantní; staromódní kedsommelig; trist; gammeldags schlampig άκομψος, παλιομοδίτικος (για ρούχο) pobre, pasado de moda ajast ja arust بد دوخت؛ از مد افتاده epämuodikas démodé לֹא אָפנָתִי भद्दा zastario lompos (nő) kuno, tidak rapi berpakaian hallærislegur (til fara) trasandato, sciatto やぼったい 단정치 못한, 초라한 neišvaizdus, nemadingas (par apģērbu) noplucis; vecmodīgs kuno sjofel gammeldags, gammelmodig, ufiks bez gustu, niemodny desengraçado demodat безвкусный, немодный nemoderný staromoden apadrapa sjaskig, gammalmodig ล้าสมัย kılıksız, modası geçmiş 不漂亮的;不時髦的 старомодний, неелегантний بد وضع ، خلاف رواج tồi tàn 髦的


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
Some of them were dressed fashionably, and they said they couldn't for the life of them see why you should be dowdy just because you had written a novel; if you had a neat figure you might as well make the most of it, and a smart shoe on a small foot had never prevented an editor from taking your "stuff.
Such a precocious little girl, with such a dowdy bonnet on (that, too, of a gauzy texture), who brought her sandalled shoes in an old threadbare velvet reticule.
Never, in the weeks of their married life, had Billy found her dowdy, or harshly irritable, or lethargic.
 
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