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frumpy

 - 3 dictionary results

frump⋅y

  [fruhm-pee]
–adjective, frump⋅i⋅er, frump⋅i⋅est.
frumpish.
Use frumpy in a Sentence
Origin:
1740–50; frump + -y 1

Related forms:
frump⋅i⋅ly, adverb
frump⋅i⋅ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To frumpy
frump   (frŭmp)   
n.  

  1. A girl or woman regarded as dull, plain, or unfashionable.

  2. A person regarded as colorless and primly sedate.


[Possibly short for Middle English frumple, wrinkle, from Middle Dutch verrompelen, to wrinkle : ver-, completely; see per1 in Indo-European roots + rompelen, to wrinkle.]
frump'i·ly adv., frump'i·ness n., frump'y adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

frumpy 
1746, "cross-tempered," from frump (n.) "bad temper" (1668) and an earlier v. meaning "to mock, browbeat" (1553), of obscure origin, perhaps imitative of a sneer or derisive snort. Sense of "sour-looking, unfashionable" is from 1825, but this may be a shortening of frumple "to wrinkle, crumple" (1398), from M.Du. verrompelen, from ver- "completely" + rompelen "to rumple." Frump "shabby, unstylish woman" is from 1817.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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