dingy
/ˈdɪn.d͡ʒi/adjective, noun, verb
dingy is spelled D-I-N-G-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,176th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, dingy means “Dark, dull” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in dingy?
| Letters | 5: D-I-N-G-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 36,176th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is dingy?
Dingy appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,176th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce dingy?
- /ˈdɪn.d͡ʒi/
Dingy has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-dingy.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-dingy2.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with dingy?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as dingy.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: dying.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of dingy
- dingier comparative
- dingiest superlative
- dingies plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- dingying participle, present
- dingied participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does dingy mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Dark, dull.
- 2
Shabby, squalid, uncared-for.
- 3
informalrareResembling or characteristic of a ding (the sound).
noun
- 1
Alternative form of dinghy.
verb
- 1
Alternative form of dinghy.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does dingy come from?
From English dialectal (Kentish) dingy (“dirty”), of unknown origin, though probably from Middle English *dingy, dungy, from Old English *dyncgiġ (“covered with dung, dirty”), an umlaut form of duncge, dung (“dung”), equivalent to dung + -y, hence a doublet of dungy.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).