frumpy
old-fashioned and unattractive
TRANSLATION
frumpy = altmodisch und unschön (DH) --- GOOGLE INDEX frumpy: approximately 650,000 hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Barely two years ago, men wearing cardigans were written off as FRUMPY. But two years is a long time in fashion.
(The Guardian)
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Recent reports in a British newspaper suggested that Cleopatra was fat and FRUMPY, with a large hooked nose, bad teeth, sharp eyes, and a thick fat-folded neck.
(BBC News)
(The Guardian)
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Recent reports in a British newspaper suggested that Cleopatra was fat and FRUMPY, with a large hooked nose, bad teeth, sharp eyes, and a thick fat-folded neck.
(BBC News)
Did you
know?
frumpy
adjective
- old-fashioned and unattractive (of a person or their clothes)
(Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary)
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WORD ORIGIN
Frumpy is believed to be a short form of frumple, meaning to wrinkle or crumple. Frumple in turn may stem from the Middle Dutch verrompelen, meaning to completely (ver-) rumple (rompelen). Rumple means to wrinkle or fold something into creases. The noun frump refers to a shabby, unstylish woman.
As the saying goes, "frumpy" is in the eye of the beholder. In other words, everyone has their own view of what frumpy is. But a few universal examples may help illustrate the sense of this adjective:
- Your 2nd grade primary school teacher
- Your college chemistry professor
- Both grandmothers
- Miss Marple and Mr. Bean
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SYNONYMS
badly dressed, baggy, blowsy, dingy, dowdy, drab, dull, frumpish, homely, old-fashioned, outdated, plain, poorly dressed, scrubby, shabby, sloppy, stodgy, unfashionable, unkempt, unstylish
(Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus)
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ANTONYMS
chic, classy, fashionable, sharp, smart, stylish
(Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus)
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"I guess it's time to update my wardrobe. I'm looking a bit frumpy these days."
adjective
- old-fashioned and unattractive (of a person or their clothes)
(Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary)
---
WORD ORIGIN
Frumpy is believed to be a short form of frumple, meaning to wrinkle or crumple. Frumple in turn may stem from the Middle Dutch verrompelen, meaning to completely (ver-) rumple (rompelen). Rumple means to wrinkle or fold something into creases. The noun frump refers to a shabby, unstylish woman.
As the saying goes, "frumpy" is in the eye of the beholder. In other words, everyone has their own view of what frumpy is. But a few universal examples may help illustrate the sense of this adjective:
- Your 2nd grade primary school teacher
- Your college chemistry professor
- Both grandmothers
- Miss Marple and Mr. Bean
---
SYNONYMS
badly dressed, baggy, blowsy, dingy, dowdy, drab, dull, frumpish, homely, old-fashioned, outdated, plain, poorly dressed, scrubby, shabby, sloppy, stodgy, unfashionable, unkempt, unstylish
(Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus)
---
ANTONYMS
chic, classy, fashionable, sharp, smart, stylish
(Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus)
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"I guess it's time to update my wardrobe. I'm looking a bit frumpy these days."
