drab

Meaning

1. A fabric, usually of thick cotton or wool, having a dull brownish yellow, dull grey, or dun colour.
2. The colour of this fabric.
3. Often in the plural form drabs: apparel, especially trousers, made from this fabric.
4. A dull or uninteresting appearance or situation, unremarkable.

dull

dreary

olive-drab

sick of

ash-gray

dun-coloured

immoral woman

of the color of the squirrel

Frequency

Pronounced as (IPA)

/dɹæb/

Probably from Middle French and Old French drap (“cloth”), either: * from Late Latin drappus (“drabcloth, kerchief; piece of cloth”), most likely from Gaulish *drappo, from Proto-Indo-European *drep- (“to scratch, tear”); or * from Frankish *drapi, *drāpi (“that which is fulled, drabcloth”), from Proto-Germanic *drap-, *drēp- (“something beaten”), from *drepaną (“to beat, strike”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrebʰ- (“to beat, crush; to make or become thick”). The English word is cognate with Ancient Greek δρέπω (drépō, “to pluck”), Avestan 𐬛𐬭𐬀𐬟𐬱𐬀 (drafša, “banner, flag”), Lithuanian drãpanos (“household linens”), Old Norse trefja (“to rub, wear out”), trof (“fringes”), Sanskrit द्रापि (drāpi, “mantle, gown”), Serbo-Croatian drápati (“to scratch, scrape”)).