frump

American  

[fruhmp] / frʌmp /

noun

1. a person who is dowdy, drab, and unattractive.

2. a dull, old-fashioned person.

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frump British  

/ frʌmp /

noun

1. a woman who is dowdy, drab, or unattractive

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Other Word Forms

• frumpish adjective

Etymology

Origin of frump

First recorded in 1545–55; origin uncertain

Example Sentences

Bean duck boots, largely vertical hair that he says “looks like rats nested on my scalp,” and thick-framed Le Corbusier glasses purchased in Paris that are somewhat at war with the home-office frump.

From Washington Post • Oct. 27, 2017

Veronica, by contrast, was a frump of “buzzing ugliness,” who lived in a dingy one-bedroom with six Siamese cats.

From The New Yorker • Nov. 9, 2015

Cate Blanchett isn’t quite Snow White, but her French frump, Claire Simone, enjoys a princess-at-the ball moment.

From New York Times • Feb. 6, 2014

Even French couture can’t rescue my frump, and my notion of hunting is based on true fables about failure.

From Salon • Jan. 31, 2014

As be did this, another arrow came whirr and frump, but this one buried all except its feathers in the grass, and stayed still, as if it had never moved.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White