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

Examples from the Web for dingy

Contemporary Examples

He has a majestic view of the dingy back entrance of a Hilton hotel.
Dean Baquet, the NYT’s Executive Editor, on Jill Abramson, Race, Surviving Cancer—and TMZ Envy
Lloyd Grove
September 16, 2014
On a cold, foggy night On Feb 26, 1998 I walked out a dingy hotel in handcuffs.
I Detoxed from Heroin in Jail
Tracey Mitchell
June 28, 2014
Then I turned to the right and stopped before a dingy shop which bore the sign: HAWBERK, ARMOURER.
Read ‘The King in Yellow,’ the ‘True Detective’ Reference That’s the Key to the Show
Robert W. Chambers
February 20, 2014
That night, I dreamed of a square, three-story, concrete building that was dark and dingy with filth, dust, and cobwebs.
A Brigham Young University Professor’s Escape from Mormonism
Lynn K. Wilder
October 20, 2013
When she came to power in 1978, Britain was a dreary, dreary place: dingy, funereal, abashed, scruffy, feckless.
How Margaret Thatcher Transformed British Politics
Tunku Varadarajan
April 8, 2013

Historical Examples

He drew his son into a little, low-browed, dingy room at the end of the hall.
Quaint Courtships
Various
All the ugly, dingy little urchins that I know have been invited.
Tip Lewis and His Lamp
Pansy
He turned the knob and entered, advancing to the middle of the dingy room.
The Fortune Hunter
Louis Joseph Vance
Old Dismukes was with them; burly, bushy, dingy, on a huge roan charger.
The Cavalier
George Washington Cable
All of the dingy street was ugly, but the greater part of it appeared to be honest.
Alice Adams
Booth Tarkington

British Dictionary definitions for dingy

dingy

adjective -gier or -giest

lacking light or brightness; drab
dirty; discoloured

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 dingy

adj.

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

dingy

Origin of .css-1fxfie5{font-size:22px;}@media (max-width:768px){.css-1fxfie5{font-size:18px;margin:0 10px 10px 0;word-break:break-all;word-wrap:break-word;-webkit-hyphens:auto;-moz-hyphens:auto;-ms-hyphens:auto;hyphens:auto;line-height:22px;}}dingy

Examples from the Web for dingy

Contemporary Examples

He has a majestic view of the dingy back entrance of a Hilton hotel.

On a cold, foggy night On Feb 26, 1998 I walked out a dingy hotel in handcuffs.

Then I turned to the right and stopped before a dingy shop which bore the sign: HAWBERK, ARMOURER.

That night, I dreamed of a square, three-story, concrete building that was dark and dingy with filth, dust, and cobwebs.

When she came to power in 1978, Britain was a dreary, dreary place: dingy, funereal, abashed, scruffy, feckless.

Historical Examples

He drew his son into a little, low-browed, dingy room at the end of the hall.

All the ugly, dingy little urchins that I know have been invited.

He turned the knob and entered, advancing to the middle of the dingy room.

Old Dismukes was with them; burly, bushy, dingy, on a huge roan charger.

All of the dingy street was ugly, but the greater part of it appeared to be honest.

dingy

Word Origin

Word Origin and History for dingy

adj.

Origin of dingy