dingy
Americanadjective
-
dingier,
comparative
-
dingiest
superlative
-
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
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
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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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.
See Examples For:
The entrance of the dingy space includes a display of “Faces of South Texas,” which includes Selena, Nolan Ryan, Tom Landry, and some war heroes.
From Slate ● Nov. 2, 2026
"What it probably did for me is ignite that ex-pro rugby player in me of detail, discipline, turning up when it's dark and dingy and cold, competing, and we went from there," Vickery said.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
Just off the yard, this small, dingy room contained 10 partitioned payphone-style phones along three of the walls.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
In response, the leader of Arioka orders Kanbei be thrown in the castle’s impeccably dingy dungeon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
We were assigned to a dingy hut near the back of the settlement.
From "Between Shades of Gray" by Ruta Sepetys
A delay in getting new rail cars could push back Metro’s expansion and leave passengers stuck with the dingier older cars as hundreds of thousands of people descend on the region for the Games.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2024
Knowles pointed out other upgrades: He airbrushed the paint job on the siding to make it look dingier.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 14, 2021
Your clothes “are dingier from when you started washing them until now. It’s happening a little bit at a time. Because you didn’t sort at all, everything becomes abraded.”
From Washington Post ● Aug. 16, 2021
The company hopes to replace some of its dingier, outdated stores with those awash in bright light and clean lines, sometimes nearby.
From New York Times ● Aug. 19, 2014
He stole across the courtyard, which was dingier than ever in the cool morning light.
From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
Even when the setting is at its dingiest, its directors Thor Freudenthal and Jon Amiel draw the eye to the beauty in the muck, making the loveliest scenes glow all the richer.
From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2019
That’s just over $10 a day for everything — in one of the world’s most expensive cities, where the tiniest and dingiest rooms start renting $400 a month.
From Time ● Jun. 21, 2016
The BBC visited the workshop of Graham Cox to see how he brings colour and light to the dingiest of corners.
From BBC ● Mar. 23, 2016
It's by far the smallest and dingiest outlet in the chain: The carpet is beige and worn, the ceilings are low, the lights fluorescent.
From BusinessWeek ● Jan. 20, 2011
Into one of the lowest-ceiled, dingiest and most ancient-looking of these disguise shops they stopped.
From Violets and Other Tales by Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
