drabbyadj.1
/ˈdrabi/ Pertaining to, or of the nature of, a drab; abounding in drabs.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > dirty person > [adjective]
sluttishc1405
sluttya1425
slut?a1513
drabbish1566
drabby1612
sordid1613
slithy1622
sleathy1652
slattering1673
slatternly1677
slattern1683
trapish1703
slammerkin1742
trolloping1770
unheppen1790
trollopy1800
slatternish1833
haveless1868
1612 W. Parkes Curtaine-drawer 4 The Curtaine of dishonesty..the drunken colourer of Drabby salary.
1776 W. Combe Diaboliad (1777) 12 The wiles of drabby Drury and of low St. Giles.
1887 W. P. Frith Autobiogr. II. 81 They are drabby, shabby, dirty creatures.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2018).
drabbyadj.2
Rather drab; drabbish.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > state or mode of having colour > [adjective] > dull coloured
wannish?a1412
colourless1557
sullena1586
sober1603
dingy1665
dunduckety1818
duckety1841
drabbish1842
neutral-tinted1844
drabby1862
drab1880
drably-tinted1891
terne1901
1862 Mrs. H. Wood Mrs. Halliburton's Troubles ii. viii A drabby petticoat in rags.
1893 G. D. Leslie Lett. to Marco xxxi. 209 The want of colour that accompanies a north-east wind; sky, trees and grass all looking washed out and drabby.
Derivatives
ˈdrabbiness n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > quality of colour > [noun] > dullness
dinginess1758
dinge1846
sombreness1847
drabbiness1872
drabness1878
1872 G. W. Dasent Three to One II. 3 While women should pass their lives in drabbiness and dowdiness.
1890 Spectator 25 Jan. 115/2 We do not believe in all this drabbiness,..in the modern ridicule of ceremonial.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
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adj.11612adj.21862