Meaning & use
dowdy
Last updated
Unfashionable and dull in appearance, especially in clothing.
See it in a sentence
She swapped her dowdy cardigan for a sleek blazer before the interview.
The hotel lobby's dowdy carpet hadn't been updated since the 1980s.
A note on using this word
"Dowdy" almost always describes clothing, decor, or overall style, and carries a mildly critical, old-fashioned connotation.
Words with a similar meaning
frumpydrab
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Words with an opposite meaning
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