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dingy

English · Thesaurus

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dingy¹

  • /ˈdɪn.d͡ʒi/

Rhymes with -ɪnd͡ʒi

Where it comes 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.

adjective dingier · dingiest

  1. Dark, dull. “[…] But are you prepared to abandon the most sacred duties of life, and come and sing with us?” “Oh, yes,” said Lucy, laughing. “If you will look out the ‘Beggar’s Opera’ from the large canterbury. It has a dingy cover.”

    Similar: drab, gloomy, dreary, dismal, bland, colourless, dim, dingy, dull, faint, lackluster, leaden · Opposite: bright

  2. Shabby, squalid, uncared-for. He led her through dingy wareroom after wareroom, counting-house after counting-house, where the clerks all were silent and subdued. 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; […]

    Similar: grimy, dirty · Opposite: pristine

dingy²

noun dingies

  1. alternative Alternative form of dinghy

verb dingies · dingying · dingied

  1. alternative Alternative form of dinghy

dingy³

adjective dingier · dingiest

  1. informal, rare Resembling or characteristic of a ding (the sound). I love it when they hit. You know the sound when they hit? That dingy sound, it’s like faster, and contained somehow? That’s a great sound. Happens like a fraction of a second before you know what you’ve hit, before you figure it out.

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MLA

"dingy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/dingy. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

dingy. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/dingy

Chicago

"dingy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/dingy.

BibTeX
@misc{dingy_2026,
  title = {dingy},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/dingy},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}