drab

¹ American  

[drab] / dræb /

adjective

drabber, drabbest

1. dull; cheerless; lacking in spirit, brightness, etc.

2. having the color drab.

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noun

1. dull gray; dull brownish or yellowish gray.

2. any of several fabrics of this color, especially of thick wool or cotton.

drab ² American  

[drab] / dræb /

noun

Archaic.

1. a dirty, untidy woman; slattern.

2. a prostitute.

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verb (used without object)

drabbed, drabbing

1. to associate with drabs.

drab ¹ British  

/ dræb /

adjective

1. dull; dingy; shabby

2. cheerless; dreary

   a drab evening

3. of the colour drab

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noun

1. a light olive-brown colour

2. a fabric of a dull grey or brown colour

drab ² British  

/ dræb /

noun

1. a slatternly woman

2. a whore

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verb

1. (intr) to consort with prostitutes

drab Idioms  

1. see dribs and drabs.

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Other Word Forms

• drabness
  noun
• drably
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of drab¹

1535–45; < Middle French drap < Late Latin drappus piece of cloth

Origin of drab²

First recorded in 1505–15; perhaps akin to Dutch drab “dregs, lees,” obsolete Dutch drablen “to run or tramp about”; cf. drabble, draff

Explanation

Dull, dreary, dingy, depressing: These adjectives capture the sense of drab, whether the word is used to describe a muted color, a miserable mood, or an oppressively boring existence. Have you ever heard of the color olive drab? It's the color the military clothes its soldiers in and is the original meaning of the word drab. A little over 100 years ago, people began using drab in the metaphorical sense to mean "dull" and "lacking brightness." If a website or an advertisement is drab, the page is boring and unattractive. If it is cold and rainy for a week, you'll get awfully tired of those drab days, and a great teacher can make even the drabbest book come to life.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

drab drabber drabbest drabbed drabbing

Cinematographer Brandon Trost does an incredible job blending classic 2D animation into drab law offices and conference rooms.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

They aren’t living drab or depressing lives when the Guardians of the Universe activate them — they’re faring pretty well, all things considered.

From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026

The milestone, made possible by billions in private and government funding, was on display in the middle of the Idaho desert, where a cluster of drab hangars might otherwise go unnoticed.

From Barron's ● Jun. 28, 2026

England remain in control of their destiny - but this was a drab encounter that brought them back down to earth with a bump.

From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026

At the top of the staircase, a drab corridor stretched out ahead, with rough coconut matting on the floor.

From "The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage" by Philip Pullman

Drifting down a corridor at her German school, a world that looks even drabber and uglier after the wonders she’s seen, this Priscilla seems lost in a dream, the most private of reveries.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2023

Unfortunately, the visuals suffer from many scratches and dirt specks popping up on the screen, and the second film has too much soft focus and a much drabber color palette.

From Washington Times ● Apr. 30, 2022

Take away one of those elements, and the scene gets a little drabber.

From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2020

The difference is that Mr. Pritchett’s world is enlivened by his cheerful embrace of eccentricity, while Mr. Trevor’s London is drabber, sadder, a place of widows and widowers, blighted romances, unraveling relationships.

From New York Times ● Nov. 23, 2016

The vocalism of English is an inherently drabber thing than the vowel scale of French, yet English compensates for this drawback by its greater rhythmical alertness.

From Language An Introduction to the Study of Speech by Edward Sapir

The warming trend comes only a couple of months after Southern Californians endured one of the drabbest and wettest winter in recent memory.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2023

To which Forest fan Pete Bancroft replied: "I'll take the drabbest 1-0 win you've ever seen."

From BBC ● May 8, 2023

There were always one or two elements that did catch my eye, though, even in the drabbest productions.

From New York Times ● May 18, 2022

A new study has found that botanists' research inexorably skews toward showy plants, whereas the drabbest, dullest and shortest are often left behind—even if they are endangered.

From Scientific American ● Aug. 30, 2021

Twilight was falling, there was a slight drizzle of rain and I told myself that I had stumbled on the drabbest bit of all London.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 156, March 12, 1919 by Various

“That’s his way, child, to-day a tinker, to-morrow something else; and as for being drabbed, I don’t know what to say about it.” p.

From Lavengro The Scholar, the Gypsy, the Priest by William Knapp

Our forefathers occasionally drabbed baulor; some of our people may still do such a thing, but only from compulsion.”

From The Romany Rye by George Henry Borrow

Our forefathers occasionally drabbed baulor, some of our people may still do such a thing, but only from compulsion.’

From The Romany Rye A Sequel to 'Lavengro' by John Sampson

“That’s his way, child, to-day a tinker, to-morrow something else; and as for being drabbed, I don’t know what to say about it.”

From Lavengro the Scholar - the Gypsy - the Priest by Theodore Watts

But, as a rule, the pirate ruffled and bullied and drabbed without let or hindrance, until it was time for him to go back to his ship once more.

From The Green Flag by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

‘Why, you have had a banquet of pork, and after the banquet Mrs. Chikno sang a song about drabbing baulor, so I naturally thought you might have lately been engaged in such a thing.’

From The Romany Rye A Sequel to 'Lavengro' by John Sampson

“Why, you have had a banquet of pork, and after the banquet, Mrs. Chikno sang a song about drabbing baulor, so I naturally thought you might have lately been engaged in such a thing.”

From The Romany Rye by George Henry Borrow

Related Words

• bleak
• desolate
• dingy
• dismal
• dreary
• gray
• lackluster
• muddy
• run down
• shabby
• somber