dowdy
/ˈdaʊdi/
"dowdy" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dowdy” is uncommon English (frequency #58,651 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #58,651
- frequency rank, English
- 3,470
- “D” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Plain and unfashionable in style or dress.
Corpus desk
Index EN-dowdy · dowdy · English
dowdy · rank #58,651 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #58,651
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,470
- PHOTO-FINISH dro
Nearest frequency peer: dro (+1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Long-tail ranks near “dowdy”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- disruptor
disruptor
41,353 corpus weight
- dissed
dissed
41,352 corpus weight
- dowdy
dowdy
41,350 corpus weight
- dro
dro
41,349 corpus weight
- duplicitous
duplicitous
41,346 corpus weight
- effusion
effusion
41,345 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “dowdy” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dowdy |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈdaʊdi/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #58,651 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “dowdy” in English
Rare enough to double-check
dowdy is uncommon English at frequency #58,651 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈdaʊdi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for dowdy, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: First appears c. 1581. Origin uncertain, probably literally "little poorly dressed woman," formed from doue, "poorly dressed woman". Possibly also related to the Scots dow, meaning to "fade". The correct English form is dowdy, spelled D-O-W-D-Y.
Definition
- 1Plain and unfashionable in style or dress.
- 2Lacking stylishness or neatness; shabby.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how dowdy appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
[...she was] a perfect saint amongst women, but so dreadfully dowdy that she reminded one of a badly bound hymn-book.
Miss Marina Thompson, a distant cousin of my husband's. She's rather dowdy, is she not?
Etymology
First appears c. 1581. Origin uncertain, probably literally "little poorly dressed woman," formed from doue, "poorly dressed woman". Possibly also related to the Scots dow, meaning to "fade".
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "dowdy", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).