Dowdy

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Dowdy \Dow"dy\, n.; pl. {Dowdies}.
     An awkward, vulgarly dressed, inelegant woman. --Shak.
     Dryden.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:



  Dowdy \Dow"dy\, a. [Compar. {Dowdier}; superl. {Dowdiest}.]
     [Scot. dawdie slovenly, daw, da sluggard, drab, Prov. E. dowd
     flat, dead.]
     Showing a vulgar taste in dress; awkward and slovenly in
     dress; vulgar-looking. -- {Dow"di*ly}, adv. -- {Dow"di*ness},
     n.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  dowdy
       adj 1: lacking in smartness or taste; "a dowdy gray outfit"; "a
              clean and sunny but completely dowdy room"
       2: primly out of date; "nothing so frumpish as last year's
          gambling game" [syn: {frumpy}, {frumpish}]
       n 1: British marshal of the RAF who commanded the British air
            defense forces that defeated the Luftwaffe during the
            Battle of Britain (1882-1970) [syn: {Dowding}, {Hugh
            Dowding}, {Baron Hugh Caswall Tremenheere Dowding}]
       2: deep-dish apple dessert covered with a rich crust [syn: {pandowdy}]
       [also: {dowdiest}, {dowdier}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  52 Moby Thesaurus words for "dowdy":
     archaic, blowsy, bygone, dated, demode, down-at-heel,
     down-at-the-heels, drab, draggletailed, dull, frayed, frazzled,
     frowsy, frowzy, frumpish, frumpy, full of holes, holey, in rags,
     in shreds, in tatters, messy, old hat, old-fashioned, out-of-date,
     outdated, outmoded, passe, patchy, ragged, raggedy, ratty, scruffy,
     seedy, shabby, shoddy, slattern, sloppy, slovenly, slut, sordid,
     stodgy, tacky, tattered, tatty, torn, traipse, unbecoming,
     unfashionable, unkempt, unseemly, vintage