dingy

[din-jee]

See more synonyms for dingy on Thesaurus.com

adjective, din·gi·er, din·gi·est.

of a dark, dull, or dirty color or aspect; lacking brightness or freshness.
shabby; dismal.

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

Related Words for dinginess

insipidness, dreariness, blandness, flatness, stodginess, vapidity, dryness, insipidity, dinginess, gloominess, boringness

Examples from the Web for dinginess

Historical Examples of dinginess

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.
The Four Million
O. Henry
God's Spirit met us in spite of cold and dinginess and needs.
The American Missionary--Volume 39, No. 07, July, 1885
Various
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

lacking light or brightness; drab
dirty; discoloured

Derived Formsdingily, adverbdinginess, noun

Word Origin for dingy

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.