Definition of "dowdy" [dow•dy]

• Lacking stylishness or neatness; shabby: a dowdy gray outfit. (adjective)
• Old-fashioned; antiquated. (adjective)
• A dowdy person; a frump. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Her Aunt Mimi isn't beautiful, at least on the outside: she buries her features beneath thick powder, marches around in dowdy clothes and looks old beyond her years."
• "They had been out at General Headquarters, living in dowdy little hotels in Arras ever since October, most of them."
• "The galaxy of handsome women that formed the court of the Emperor had perhaps sent beauty somewhat out of fashion; for the high-born ladies who took their place were what we should call dowdy, and had nothing distinguished in their appearance."