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Spiffy vs Drab - What's the difference?

spiffy | drab |

As adjectives the difference between spiffy and drab

is that spiffy is dapper; fine or neat, especially in style of clothing or other appearance while drab is dull, uninteresting, particularly of colour.

As nouns the difference between spiffy and drab

is that spiffy is a dapper person while drab is a fabric, usually of thick wool or cotton, having a drab colour.

As a verb drab is

to consort with prostitutes.

spiffy

English

Adjective

(er)
  • (informal) Dapper; fine or neat, especially in style of clothing or other appearance.
  • * 1906 , “Newport News in London,” The New York Times , 26 Aug, p. 9,
    • The charming twins came last week, and you should see their clothes. ‘Spiffy ’ is the word.

    Synonyms

    * spiffing * spivvy

    Related terms

    * spiv * spiff up * spruce up

    Noun

    (spiffies)
  • (informal) A dapper person.

    • References

    * Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary , 1987-1996.

    drab

    English

    Etymology 1

    (etyl), meaning "color of undyed cloth", from (etyl) ).Xavier Delamarre, ''Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise : une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental , s.v. "drappo" (Paris: Errance, 2001).

    Adjective

    (drabber)
  • Dull, uninteresting, particularly of colour.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=November 3 , author=David Ornstein , title=Macc Tel-Aviv 1 - 2 Stoke , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=In a drab first half, Ryan Shotton's drive was deflected on to a post and Jon Walters twice went close.}}

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A fabric, usually of thick wool or cotton, having a drab colour.
  • The colour of this fabric; a dun, dull grey, or or dull brownish yellow.
  • A wooden box, used in saltworks for holding the salt when taken out of the boiling pans.
    • Quotations
    * (English Citations of "drab")
    Synonyms
    * (fabric) (l)
    Derived terms
    * (l)

    Etymology 2

    Origin uncertain; probably compare Irish drabog, Gaelic .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (dated) A dirty or untidy woman; a slattern.
  • *
    • Old provincial society had [...] its brilliant young professional dandies who ended by living up an entry with a drab and six children for their establishment [...].
  • * 1956 , (John Creasey), Gideon's Week :
    • The doss house emptied during the day; from ten o'clock until five or six in the evening, there was no one there except Mulliver, a drab who did some of the cleaning for him, and occasional visitors.
  • (dated) A promiscuous woman, a slut; a prostitute.
  • * 1957 , (Frank Swinnerton), The Woman from Sicily :
    • Ineffable sarcasm underlined the word 'bride', suggesting that Mrs Mudge must be a drab who had married for respectability.
    (Shakespeare)
  • A box used in a saltworks for holding the salt when taken out of the boiling pans.
    • Synonyms
    * (slut) See * (prostitute) See

    Verb

    (drabb)
  • (obsolete) To consort with prostitutes.
  • *
  • *

    • Anagrams

    *

    References

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