dingy

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English

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Etymology 1

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From English dialectal (Kentish) dingy (dirty), of unknown origin, though probably from an unrecorded Middle English *dingy, *düngy, from Old English *dyncgiġ (covered with dung, dirty), an umlaut form of Old English duncge, dung (dung), equivalent to dung +‎ -y. [1]

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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dingy (comparative dingier, superlative dingiest)

  1. dark, dull
    Synonyms: drab, gloomy, dreary, dismal; see also Thesaurus:dim
    Antonym: bright
    • 1960 December, “The Glasgow Suburban Electrification is opened”, in Trains Illustrated, page 713:
      The station has been refurbished both at ground level and below ground, where the wide, fluorescently lit platforms are an almost unrecognisable metamorphosis of the dingy, reeking Low Level of old.
  2. shabby, squalid, uncared-for
    Synonyms: grimy, dirty
    Antonym: pristine
    • 1854, Charles Dickens, Household Words:
      He led her at last into a dingy sanctum, dimly lighted by one shaded lamp. In this safe there were piles of dingy papers and more dingy ledgers ; with great piles of accounts on hooks in the wall
    • 1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in Railway Magazine, page 704:
      At last the first glimpse from a bridge of an open-top red bus, and a noticeable darkening of the atmosphere from the smoke of London: then the increasingly dingy stations with double-barrel names, set amid what has always been to me the outstanding feature of the "Premier Line" approach to London—the positively marvellous display of crazy chimney-pots on the grey inner suburban houses. As many as twenty, all of varying style, standing together like ranks of jagged teeth, and providing a Dickensian back-cloth which no other route can boast.
    • 2009, Sophie Kinsella, The Secret Dreamworld Of A Shopaholic: (Shopaholic Book 1):
      She's looking from Tarquin to Fenella with shining eyes, and I look at the picture interestedly over her shoulder. But to be honest, I can't say I'm impressed. For a start it's really dingy – all sludgy greens and brown
Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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Noun

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dingy (plural dingies)

  1. Alternative form of dinghy

Verb

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dingy (third-person singular simple present dingies, present participle dingying, simple past and past participle dingied)

  1. Alternative form of dinghy

References

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  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “dingy”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

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