Make Your Point > Archived Issues > DOWDY
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pronounce
DOWDY:
Say it "DOU dee."
It rhymes with "rowdy."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
If, like George Costanza, someone has given up and embraced ugly sweatpants as daywear, that person is dressing in a dowdy way, or a drab, dull, unfashionable way.
And if he also stops showering, then he's also looking fr___y: sloppy and unwashed.
Can you recall that unpleasant word?
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
We're not exactly sure where the word "dowdy" came from. But in English, it first meant "a girl or woman who dresses in an ugly, unfashionable way."
Over time, that meaning hasn't changed too much. Today, dowdy things are plain or ugly in a dull, unstylish way.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
Adjective: "her dowdy old uniform;" "The squat brown building was looking even dowdier than usual."
Other forms:
Dowdily, dowdiness/dowdyism, dowdyish ("a bit dowdy").
how to use it:
"Dowdy" is a bit nicer than words like "ugly" and "dumpy," but not by much. It's the formal, semi-common word you can use to call a bit of extra attention to just how sloppy and unattractive something looks, as if it was chosen or created with zero style or effort.
And maybe because of its original meaning in English ("a badly-dressed girl or woman"), the word "dowdy" most often describes women, or feminine things, rather than men or masculine things.
You might talk about dowdy people, characters, places, objects, outfits, hairstyles, furniture, rooms, buildings, etc.
examples:
"When first we see Aida, a captured Ethiopian slave, she is pushing a mop across the floor, wearing a plain blue dress with pleated skirt and a baggy white sweater. In other words, she is made to look as dowdy as possible."
— Mike Silverman, Associated Press, 3 October 2010
"Merriam-Webster Inc. is housed in a two-story brick building in Springfield, Massachusetts, that... could pass for an old elementary school. There's a broad central staircase, and dowdy conference rooms, linoleum floors, and creaky wooden doors, even some hospital-green and cafeteria-yellow walls."
— Stefan Fatsis, Slate, 12 January 2015
has this page helped you understand "dowdy"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "dowdy" without saying "homely" or "frumpy."
try it out:
Fill in the blanks: "(Something old or plain) looks dowdy compared with (something new or fancy)."
Example: "Our train clattered into the Gare d’Austerlitz, looking dowdy compared with the sleek high-speed trains that are replacing the night routes across Europe" (New York Times).
before you review, play:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
Our game for March is "Yup, that's a real word."
Check out the definition of a silly-sounding word--yes, a real one, from the Oxford English Dictionary--and see if you can come up with the word itself. To see the answer, scroll all the way down.
Here's an example: "This three-syllable noun ending in the -ship suffix (as in 'friendship' and 'fellowship') means 'skill in traversing snow.'" The answer is "snowmanship." (Yup, that’s a real word!)
Try this one today:
This three-syllable noun has a specific historical meaning that we'll overlook, because its original literal meaning is too funny: "someone who uses a blanket." (Hint: All for one and one for all!)
review this word:
A. VIVID and NATTY.
B. FIRM and STRONG.
C. CERTAIN and CONFIDENT.
2.
On TV, even the dowdy characters seem a bit too _____. Or as The Simpsons put it, "_____."
A. smart .. TV dumb, not dumb-dumb
B. attractive .. TV ugly, not ugly-ugly
C. entertaining .. TV boring, not boring-boring
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
We're not exactly sure where the word "dowdy" came from. But in English, it first meant "a girl or woman who dresses in an ugly, unfashionable way."
Part of speech:
"Dowdy" is a bit nicer than words like "ugly" and "dumpy," but not by much. It's the formal, semi-common word you can use to call a bit of extra attention to just how sloppy and unattractive something looks, as if it was chosen or created with zero style or effort.
"When first we see Aida, a captured Ethiopian slave, she is pushing a mop across the floor, wearing a plain blue dress with pleated skirt and a baggy white sweater. In other words, she is made to look as dowdy as possible."
Explain the meaning of "dowdy" without saying "homely" or "frumpy."
Fill in the blanks: "(Something old or plain) looks dowdy compared with (something new or fancy)."
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
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