drab
adjective
dull; cheerless; lacking in spirit, brightness, etc.
drabness
-
a word derived from
drab.
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.
The strict realism runs the risk of drabness; the novel’s title, for instance, is so forgettable that I have had to look it up three times in the writing of this review.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 26, 2025
To stay sane, she releases her pent-up frustration at her gigs, where her furious guitar playing, powerful vocals and introspective songwriting torch the everyday drabness of her life with a Dionysian flame.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2023
The street’s 20 buildings, including Song Yang’s, are mostly three- and four-story structures from the 1980s and ’90s that evoke a utilitarian, Soviet-bloc drabness.
From New York Times ● Oct. 11, 2018
And the danger is even greater in “A House Among the Trees,” which gives up a lot of white space to that caretaker, although she never shakes off the drabness of her conception.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 13, 2017
The farmer women used to fascinate Fanny by their very drabness.
From Fanny Herself by Edna Ferber
