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dingy

[din-jee]
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adjective, din·gi·er, din·gi·est.
  1. of a dark, dull, or dirty color or aspect; lacking brightness or freshness.
  2. shabby; dismal.
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Origin of dingy

First recorded in 1730–40; origin uncertain
Related formsdin·gi·ly, adverbdin·gi·ness, noun
Can be confuseddinghy dingy
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for dinginess

Historical Examples

  • Every sail that loomed in the dinginess filled me with alarm.

    The Frozen Pirate

    W. Clark Russell

  • They are not reddish: they are brown, to which grease and dinginess add not a little.

    Left on Labrador

    Charles Asbury Stephens

  • But his choice was to sit in rags and dinginess on a bench in a park.

  • God's Spirit met us in spite of cold and dinginess and needs.

  • But this dungeon had ample compensations for its darkness and dinginess.

    Capturing a Locomotive

    William Pittenger

British Dictionary definitions for dinginess

dingy

adjective -gier or -giest
  1. lacking light or brightness; drab
  2. dirty; discoloured
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Derived Formsdingily, adverbdinginess, noun

Word Origin

C18: perhaps from an earlier dialect word related to Old English dynge dung
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for dinginess

dingy

adj.

1736, Kentish dialect, "dirty," of uncertain origin, but perhaps related to dung. The noun dinge (1816) is a back-formation.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper