dumpy
1 Americanadjective
adjective
adjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of dumpy1
First recorded in 1610–20; dump(s) + -y 1
Origin of dumpy2
First recorded in 1740–50; perhaps akin to dumpling
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.
But unlike the notoriously dumpy Slough House setting of “Slow Horses,” much of “MI-5” took place — though was not shot — inside the agency’s grand Thames House headquarters in London.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 4, 2025
Speaking about her weight and obesity in a TV special, the US broadcaster and actress said she would "never forget" called "bumpy, lumpy and down right dumpy" on a magazine cover.
From BBC • Mar. 19, 2024
"Coxen's fig-parrots are small, dumpy, green parrots with very short tails, and historically they were scattered in rainforests between Bundaberg in Queensland and the Hastings River in New South Wales," Mr Backstrom said.
From Science Daily • Nov. 29, 2023
She reflects on all the varied, tender memories a dumpy local chain store can hold, and what was lost when her daughter’s Walgreens closed.
From Slate • Nov. 13, 2023
She was standing by the window, smoking a cigarette, an odd, dumpy little figure I should not see again, her coat stretched tight over her large breasts, her ridiculous hat perched sideways on her head.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
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.
