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Synonyms

frumpy

American  
[fruhm-pee] / ˈfrʌm pi /

adjective

frumpier, frumpiest

  1. frumpish.

frumpy British  
/ ˈfrʌmpɪʃ, ˈfrʌmpɪ /

adjective

  1. (of a woman, clothes, etc) dowdy, drab, or unattractive

"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

Other Word Forms

  • frumpily adverb
  • frumpiness noun

Etymology

Origin of frumpy

First recorded in 1740–50; frump + -y 1

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.

After Fawlty Towers, Scales continued to work in television, including a stint as the frumpy Elizabeth Mapp in ITV's Mapp and Lucia.

From BBC • Oct. 28, 2025

What’s left is a narrowed, frumpy prestige app that feels like HBO Now and HBO Go, complemented only by a limited window of BritBox previews.

From Slate • Aug. 7, 2025

Still, Birkenstock has much else going for it - including the ability to stay popular decades since first becoming well-known as somewhat frumpy but comfortable sandals that complete a laidback, hippie look.

From Reuters • Oct. 5, 2023

The drape, fit and feel of clothes are her passion and her living, but her own outfit is pallid, frumpy — a kind of camouflage.

From New York Times • Sep. 13, 2023

The houses there are old, close together, with frumpy little front gardens and pointed roofs and moldering wooden scrollwork around the porches.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

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.