dowdy
/ˈdaʊdi/ adjective, noun, verb, proper noun
Forms dowdier dowdiest dowdies dowdying dowdied Dowdys daverdy
- adjective Plain and unfashionable in style or dress.
- adjective Lacking stylishness or neatness; shabby.
- noun A plain or shabby person.
- verb (cooking, transitive) To press the crust into the filling during baking, to allow the juices to caramelize on top.
- proper noun A surname from Irish.
Synonyms
Dowding Hugh Dowding Baron Hugh Caswall Tremenheere Dowding pandowdy frumpy frumpish
Etymology
First appears c. 1581. Origin uncertain, probably literally "little poorly dressed woman," formed from doue, "poorly dressed woman". Possibly also related to the Scots dow, meaning to "fade".
Variant of Dowd.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Showing a vulgar taste in dress; awkward and slovenly in dress; vulgar-looking.
- noun An awkward, vulgarly dressed, inelegant woman. Shak. Dryden.
Etymology [Scot. dawdie slovenly, daw, da sluggard, drab, Prov. E. dowd flat, dead.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “dowdy”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details