dowdy
1 Americanadjective
-
not stylish; drab; old-fashioned.
Why do you always wear those dowdy old dresses?
- Synonyms:
- frumpy
- Antonyms:
- stylish, fashionable
-
not neat or tidy; shabby.
noun
noun
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of dowdy1
1300–50; Middle English doude unattractive woman (of uncertain origin) + -y 1 or -y 2
Origin of dowdy2
First recorded in 1935–40; short form
Explanation
Someone dowdy dresses badly and has a shabby, unstylish appearance. If you can’t remember the last time you went shopping, beware, you may be dowdy. People tend to use the word dowdy mostly to describe women, in particular older women. In addition, it not only means shabbily dressed, but also relates specifically to the idea of style, or rather the lack of it. Applied to clothing, it also means out of date, in an old-fashioned, dull sort of way. Wild 1970s-style love beads may be out of style, but they can never be called dowdy! A sensible gray tweed skirt or the person wearing it? Most likely dowdy!
Vocabulary lists containing dowdy
The Picture of Dorian Gray
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Spy School
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Howl's Moving Castle
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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 stocks powering them are neither dowdy bargains nor typical of a developing country.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
Especially because, with this dull, dowdy current iteration dragging its cape into theaters, it already has.
From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2026
The character of Dame Edna began as a dowdy Mrs. Norm Everage who first took to the stage in Humphries’ hometown of Melbourne in the mid-1950s.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 21, 2023
Coupled with a terrific performance by Long Beach Opera that includes more than one star turn, the dowdy Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro became the unlikely locale for a double operatic triumph.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 22, 2023
She was trying on her latest disguise—a dowdy gown of dull gray—and her hair was swept back in a severe bun with just a few curls loose at the temples.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
The actress dowdies up her portrayal with a glumly unsmiling demeanor and the flat, poignantly cynical vocal delivery of the nerd who’s smarter — and more annoying — than everyone else in the room.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 20, 2016
Julie Andrews, Carol Channing, Ann Margret, Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave and Raquel Welch are the other distinguished dowdies, but it's not really their fault.
From Time Magazine Archive
I know but two duchesses in this wide world who are not dowdies, and one of them is an American.
From Parrot & Co. by MacGrath, Harold
Well, perhaps if we take care of the dowdies and the butchers and the bakers, the beauties and the bigwigs will take care of themselves.
From Press Cuttings by Shaw, Bernard
Dowdies, dowdies won't do for European courts, Paris especially.
From Women of America Woman: In all ages and in all countries Vol. 10 (of 10) by Larus, John Rouse
Investors are finding refuge in dowdier names that have been ignored of late, like peanut butter maker J.M.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
It remains to be seen whether Americans will be more willing to wear dowdier, less comfortable but more effective masks to protect themselves and others.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 27, 2020
“Their locations, their decor, their approach, has been one of the dowdier of the dowdy in the past,” Zietsma said.
From Washington Post ● May 6, 2016
But Mr. Tritle is giving it up for roomier, less plush and decidedly non-Catholic confines on the dowdier Upper West Side.
From New York Times ● Jul. 15, 2011
And the dowdier the ladies and the less he had to do with them the prouder were they.
From A Traitor's Wooing by Hill, Headon
It was arguably the dowdiest of Britain’s major charities — its highest-profile patron has long been Princess Anne, Queen Elizabeth’s daughter.
From New York Times ● Jul. 14, 2018
Even in a down economy there's no shortage of potential buyers for even the dowdiest of franchises.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 17, 2010
“She is the dowdiest thing I ever saw.”
From Ruth Fielding Down in Dixie Great Times in the Land of Cotton by Emerson, Alice B.
The men sallow, meagre, and wearing those trousers which, cut very wide and flappy at the ankles, make them the dowdiest men in the world.
From Half Portions by Ferber, Edna
"She'll dress herself up carefully in the evening to sit at home alone with me, and go out to a big dinner party in the dowdiest gown she's got," he told me once.
From The Heavenly Twins by Grand, Madame Sarah
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.
