different between frumpy vs frumpish

English

Etymology

Either from frump or from Middle English frumple +? -y.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?f??m.p?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?f??m.pi/

Adjective

frumpy (comparative frumpier, superlative frumpiest)

1. Dowdy, unkempt, or unfashionable.

   She came to the door in a frumpy housedress and bedroom slippers.

   • 2005, Siobhan Roberts, John Horton Conway: the world’s most charismatic mathematician, in: The Guardian, July 23rd 2015

     Although still young at heart and head, he looks more and more like his old friend Archimedes, increasingly bearded and increasingly grey, with an otherworldly mien – a look that should earn him a spot in the online quiz featuring portraits of frumpy old men under the rubric “Prof or Hobo?”

2. (dated) Bad-tempered.

Related terms

• frump
• frumpily
• frumpiness

Translations

English

Etymology

frump +? -ish

Adjective

frumpish (comparative more frumpish, superlative most frumpish)

1. Poorly dressed; wearing drab, lifeless, ill-fitting clothing, or being clothing of this kind.

   women in frumpish dresses

2. (dated) Bad-tempered.

Usage notes

• In the sense of being poorly dressed, used to describe women more often than men.

Synonyms

• (poorly dressed): frumpy
• (bad-tempered): frumpy