dowdy Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun British marshal of the RAF who commanded the British air defense forces that defeated the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain (1882-1970)
    Baron Hugh Caswall Tremenheere Dowding; Dowding; Hugh Dowding.
  2. noun deep-dish apple dessert covered with a rich crust
    pandowdy.
  3. adjective satellite lacking in smartness or taste
    • a dowdy grey outfit
    • a clean and sunny but completely dowdy room
  4. adjective satellite primly out of date
    frumpish; frumpy.
    • nothing so frumpish as last year's gambling game

WordNet

Dow"dy adjective
Etymology
Scot. dawdie slovenly, daw, da sluggard, drab, Prov. E. dowd flat, dead.
Wordforms
comparative Dowdier ; superlative Dowdiest
Definitions
  1. Showing a vulgar taste in dress; awkward and slovenly in dress; vulgar-looking. -- Dow"di*ly adv. -- Dow"di*ness, n.
Dow"dy noun
Wordforms
plural Dowdies
Definitions
  1. An awkward, vulgarly dressed, inelegant woman. Shak. Dryden.

Webster 1913