Creative Definition:
Dowdy
Originally Found in this Sentence: “His own neighbour was Mrs.Vandeleur, one of his aunt's oldest friends, a perfect saint amongst women, but so dreadfully dowdy that she reminded one of a badly bound hymn book.” (Oscar Wilde)
Guessed Definition:
Dowdy=unorganized, not put together
Actual Definition:
not neat or becoming in appearance:shabby
old-fashioned
Sentence Definition:
When someone is described as dowdy they are considered to have an unfashionable and/or old-fashioned clothing style.
Model Sentences:
While some, like Delman, were vibrant, professional types, a good number were secretive and dour, taking corner tables in the coffee shop and dining alone in their dowdy skirts, sensible shoes, and black nylons, looking at many a passing girl with a mixture of scorn and suspicion.
https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2010/04/barbizon-hotel-201004
Wearing a baseball cap and black vest over a plaid button-down, he looks like the Elvis Costello of Elmer Fudds, his dowdy suburban dadness a kind of comic exclamation point.
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/11/stephen-colbert-on-trump-trauma-leadership-and-loss
When we think about shapewear, images of constrictive, dowdy, beige girdles come to mind — tools to hide the body.
https://www.vogue.co.uk/news/article/kim-kardashian-west-future-of-skims
“They made the Cambridges”—Bill and Cathy, goes the joke—“seem dowdy, suburban, and rather dull. That does not go down well in the palace.”
https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2021/04/may-cover-story-a-continental-royal-rift
Common Roots, Prefixes, Suffixes:
Prefix:
-
Root:
Dowd=dull appearance, shabbily dressed
Suffix:
y=characterized by
Other forms of the word:
Dowdily
Dowdiness
Dowdyish
Etymology:
-comes from the english word “doude” which means “unattractive women” which led to the irish word “dowd” meaning “dull appearance”
Dowdy was most likely used in the same way it is today to describe someone or a group of people and their general appearance. However this word is no longer confined to just women but is now used with any gender.