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frump

[fruhmp]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR frump ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person who is dowdy, drab, and unattractive.
a dull, old-fashioned person.

Origin of frump

First recorded in 1545–55; origin uncertain
Related formsfrump·ish, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for frump

slattern, schlump

Examples from the Web for frump

Historical Examples of frump

  • Frump,—the word calls up the exact picture; frump and fatuity.

  • “The frump, as you call her, is usually a countess or a duchess,” with asperity.

  • No one ever regained my favour by making a frump of herself.

    Hypolympia

    Edmund Gosse

  • Billings waved his hand to the frump as he mounted the stairway inside.

    The Haunted Pajamas

    Francis Perry Elliott

  • And this was the frump's father, and it was for him she was scheming to make a home!

    The Haunted Pajamas

    Francis Perry Elliott

British Dictionary definitions for frump

frump

noun

a woman who is dowdy, drab, or unattractive

Word Origin for frump

C16 (in the sense: to be sullen; C19: dowdy woman): from Middle Dutch verrompelen to wrinkle, rumple
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for frump
n.

"cross, unstylish person" 1817, perhaps from frumple (v.) "to wrinkle" (late 14c.), from Middle Dutch verrompelen "to wrinkle" (see frumpy).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper