dowdy

1 of 3

adjective

dowdier; dowdiest
1
: not neat or becoming in appearance : shabby
a dowdy old hat
2
a
: lacking smartness or taste
a dowdy room
b
: old-fashioned
a dowdy institution
dowdily adverb
dowdiness noun
dowdyish adjective

dowdy

2 of 3

noun (1)

plural dowdies
archaic
: a dowdy woman

dowdy

3 of 3

noun (2)

Examples of dowdy in a Sentence

Adjective She played a dowdy old woman in the film. the dowdy, beat-up furniture at the cheap motel
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
Given its neither-here-nor-there length, the midi-bob can look slightly dowdy if not cut and/or styled correctly. Hannah Coates, Vogue, 18 Jan. 2024 Who knew that enduring such abuse could turn this dowdy old maid into an unlikely local celebrity? Peter Debruge, Variety, 6 Jan. 2024 Her Laura is no more dowdy than Anna Magnani, the mythic Italian actress who’s a clear reference, certainly visually, for the character. Manohla Dargis, New York Times, 24 Dec. 2023 The setting—glittering sea, brilliant sun, luxurious vessel, squealing water fights—could hardly offer a greater contrast to the chilly environs of Balmoral, with its dowdy, tweedy routine of heathland-stomping and fauna-murdering. Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 15 Nov. 2023 Bourbon and scrambled eggs for breakfast Upstairs in their dowdy suite at the old Boston Ritz As guests of Brahmin old-fart trustees Of the Harvard Advocate, 1955 or maybe 1956. Frederick Seidel, The New York Review of Books, 12 Oct. 2023 Plaza Mexico’s parking lot was crowded on a recent day despite the retail center’s dowdy appearance. Kate King, WSJ, 2 Aug. 2022 Cooks working for wealthy white families were made to wear dowdy uniforms despite their critical roles in shaping Southern foodways and culture. Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Bon Appétit, 13 Sep. 2023 The priest, Jean-Daniel Lafontant, had come from Haiti to help reopen the House of World Cultures, Berlin’s distinguished but dowdy center for non-European arts and ideas. Siddhartha Mitter, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dowdy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

diminutive of dowd dowdy, from Middle English doude

Noun (2)

origin unknown

First Known Use

Adjective

1676, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (1)

1581, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

1936, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of dowdy was in 1581

Dictionary Entries Near dowdy

Cite this Entry

“Dowdy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dowdy. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

dowdy

adjective
ˈdau̇d-ē
dowdier; dowdiest
1
: not neatly or well dressed or cared for
2
: not stylish
dowdily
ˈdau̇d-ᵊl-ē
adverb
dowdiness
ˈdau̇d-ē-nəs
noun

More from Merriam-Webster on dowdy

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