1751: frump Sep 30, 2019

Although 'frump' and its adjectival counterpart 'frumpy' now generally relate to fashion, this is a newer development. In the 16th, the word referred to bad humor or a bad temperment, believed to be from the Dutch 'verrompelen' ('to wrinkle'). Eventually the word connoted not just a bad attitude, but someone who has a such a personality, and thus the idea of a dowdy woman came after to be associated with the word.

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