drab
1dull; cheerless; lacking in spirit, brightness, etc.
having the color drab.
dull gray; dull brownish or yellowish gray.
any of several fabrics of this color, especially of thick wool or cotton.
Origin of drab
1Other words from drab
- drably, adverb
- drabness, noun
Words Nearby drab
Other definitions for drab (2 of 2)
a dirty, untidy woman; slattern.
a prostitute.
to associate with drabs.
Origin of drab
2Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use drab in a sentence
It’s pea soup, after all, typically a metaphor for drab and boring.
Leeks and fresh dill take cozy split pea soup from drab to fab | Ellie Krieger | January 6, 2021 | Washington PostAs the pandemic has proved, we are adaptable creatures, though I still feel the loss of a landscape rendered drab but predictable by brown earth and gray forest.
Climate change has altered the winter season and the gardener’s sense of it | Adrian Higgins | January 6, 2021 | Washington PostErrors are expected—even the world’s best can confuse extremely similar-looking immature gulls or drab flycatchers.
Hops once were considered a drab ingredient, tossed in mainly to preserve the beer, thanks to antibacterial properties of the resins found in hop flowers, which are also called cones.
How Hops Became the Star of American Brewing | Christopher Solomon | October 7, 2020 | Outside OnlineFor Arise, these individual arbitration awards were dribs and drabs compared with the potentially large payouts that could come from a class-action lawsuit.
Meet the Customer Service Reps for Disney and Airbnb Who Have to Pay to Talk to You | by Ken Armstrong, Justin Elliott and Ariana Tobin | October 2, 2020 | ProPublica
The winter can be so drab—all greys, blacks, and neutral tones.
The Daily Beast’s 2014 Holiday Gift Guide: For the Carrie Bradshaw in Your Life | Allison McNearney | November 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTMeathead nodded down the hallway where two olive drab duffel bags and a rucksack sat next to the front door.
Short Stories from The Daily Beast: Four Hundred Grand | Elliot Ackerman | July 6, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTOur bookstores would surely be more drab and austere in their absence or their relegation to the annals of world literature.
Why the Man Booker Prize Is More Necessary Than Ever | Liam Hoare | October 15, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTAny chance we can bring him back for the rest of this comparatively drab campaign?
10 Outrageous Attack Ads: Bain, Burning Money, & More (Videos) | The Daily Beast Video | August 10, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTBut why do the outdoor scenes look as dank and drab as the gas-lit, sepia-toned interiors?
Here began indeed, in the drab surroundings of the workshop, in the silent mystery of the laboratory, the magic of the new age.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice | Stephen LeacockAt his side was the girl, a slender body in drab, tossing her hat gayly about at the end of its long string.
The Soldier of the Valley | Nelson LloydHe was now beyond all ordinary sensations of fear, only a drab feeling as of death—the death of the soul—stirred in his heart.
Three More John Silence Stories | Algernon BlackwoodWery proud I was in a gold-laced hat, a drab coat and a red weskit, to sit by his side, when he drove.
Memoirs of Mr. Charles J. Yellowplush | William Makepeace ThackerayJune Dun—a feather from Dottrel's back, hackled on a body of blue Rabbit's fur and drab silk, dun hackle for legs.
The Teesdale Angler | R Lakeland
British Dictionary definitions for drab (1 of 2)
/ (dræb) /
dull; dingy; shabby
cheerless; dreary: a drab evening
of the colour drab
a light olive-brown colour
a fabric of a dull grey or brown colour
Origin of drab
1Derived forms of drab
- drably, adverb
- drabness, noun
British Dictionary definitions for drab (2 of 2)
/ (dræb) archaic /
a slatternly woman
a whore
(intr) to consort with prostitutes
Origin of drab
2Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with drab
see dribs and drabs.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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