drab

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Six shades each of scarlet, drab, and blue.

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Definitions (27)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (10)

  1. adjective Of a dull grayish to yellowish brown.
  2. adjective Of a light olive brown or khaki color.
  3. adjective Faded and dull in appearance.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (8)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (4)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (5)

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This word has been looked up 143 times.

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

dingy ·  woolen ·  tattered ·  khaki ·  nondescript ·  grey ·  shapeless ·  dreary ·  maroon ·  dusty ·  muddy ·  striped
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (7)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. Alteration of obsolete French drap, cloth, from Old French; see drape.
  2. Possibly of Celtic origin; akin to Scottish Gaelic dràbag and Irish Gaelic drabóg, slattern, or from Dutch drab, dregs.
  3. Probably alteration of drib.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (4)

  1. Early modern English drabbe; prob. from Irish drabog = Gaelic drabag, a slut, slattern, cf. Gaelic drabach, dirty, slovenly, drabaire, a slovenly man, from Irish drab, a spot, stain; prob. related to Irish and Gael, drabh, draff, the grains of malt, whence Gael, drabhag, dregs, lees, a little filthy slattern, drabhas, filth, obscenity, foul weather. Prob. connected with draff, q. v.
  2. from drab, n.
  3. Orig. a trade-name, being a particular application (simple ‘cloth,’ i. e., undyed cloth?) of French drap, cloth: see drape.
  4. Origin obscure.
 

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/dræb/
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