dingy
Americanadjective
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of a dark, dull, or dirty color or aspect; lacking brightness or freshness.
-
shabby; dismal.
adjective
-
lacking light or brightness; drab
-
dirty; discoloured
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of dingy
First recorded in 1730–40; origin uncertain
Explanation
If something is dingy, it's dirty. If you spend your days as a chimney sweeper, you probably look pretty dingy. The adjective dingy is often, but not always, used to describe one's clothing or living space. The adjective dingy comes from uncertain origins, but experts suspect it may be a backformation from the word dung, which is animal excrement. So you can imagine how dirty, dismal, grungy, and grimy something described as dingy is.
Vocabulary lists containing dingy
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"Everyday Use" by Alice Walker
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The veil between this world and the next is so thin that Clark can literally walk right through it, from his dingy store into the familiar yellow dimension of the film’s opening sequence.
From Salon • May 30, 2026
Here, the band went further, using Sphere’s state-of-the-art environs to imagine itself back in a dingy club or student union.
From Los Angeles Times • May 7, 2026
Roughly half a million people pass each day through this cramped, dingy catacomb beneath Madison Square Garden.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026
They could end up nursing a grudge that they paid $200 a night for a space that resembles a dingy roadside motel rather than a boutique experience.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 3, 2026
She was dressed in her work uniform—navy pants, navy shirt with a name tag, offset by her fuzzy, dingy pink house slippers.
From "Look Both Ways" by Jason Reynolds
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
