frumpy
English edit
Etymology edit
Either from frump or from Middle English frumple + -y.
Pronunciation edit
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈfɹʌm.pɪ/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈfɹʌm.pi/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (AU) (file) - Rhymes: (US) -ʌmpi
Adjective edit
frumpy (comparative frumpier, superlative frumpiest)
- Dowdy, unkempt, or unfashionable.
- She came to the door in a frumpy housedress and bedroom slippers.
- July 23 2005, Siobhan Roberts, “John Horton Conway: the world’s most charismatic mathematician”, in The Guardian[1]:
- Although still young at heart and head, he looks more and more like his old friend Archimedes, increasingly bearded and increasingly grey, with an otherworldly mien – a look that should earn him a spot in the online quiz featuring portraits of frumpy old men under the rubric “Prof or Hobo?”
- (dated) Bad-tempered.
Related terms edit
Translations edit
dowdy, unfashionable
|