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Dowdy

UK/ˈdaʊdi/ US/ˈdaʊdi/ rare
noun (2) adjective (2)

noun

1.

British marshal of the RAF who commanded the British air defense forces that defeated the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain (1882-1970)

Synonyms
2.

deep-dish apple dessert covered with a rich crust

Synonyms

adjective

1.

lacking in smartness or taste

  • “a dowdy gray outfit”
  • “a clean and sunny but completely dowdy room”
Similar
2.

primly out of date

  • “nothing so frumpish as last year”
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

First appears c. 1581. Origin uncertain, probably literally "little poorly dressed woman," formed from doue, "poorly dressed woman". Possibly also related to the Scots dow, meaning to "fade".

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.