frump

American  

[fruhmp] / frʌmp /

noun

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

2. a dull, old-fashioned person.

---

frump British  

/ frʌmp /

noun

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

---

Other Word Forms

• frumpish adjective

Etymology

Origin of frump

First recorded in 1545–55; origin uncertain

Example Sentences

The rest insist I am a joyless frump.

From The Guardian • Jan. 7, 2019

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

With too much nerve, you are a fashion victim; without enough, you’re a frump.

From The New Yorker • Dec. 1, 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

The frump and the fop, they looked, but they were something more than that.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin