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drab

drab

5 5.3
A dull grey or light brownish green color often used for uniforms
  • noun
  • /dræb/
translation icon : verde oliva
  • Charles wore university drab, a green turtleneck, and dark gray pants.

Examples

  • And so I have the olive drabs, the camels, a deep, cool tone sepia, not a chocolate brown, but it's really got those cool undertones in there.

  • Her dress was a drab shade that blended in with the dull surroundings.

  • It's bright pink outshines all the green of summer and all the drab of winter.

    Blog text (34)
  • After the next corner, the school appeared, its dingy institutional brick drab but unsoftened by time.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • It's a Norman Rockwell scene at a train depot, with an army-issue olive drab duffel bag slung over his shoulder.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • Arnold could see figures—many of them clad in olive drab—moving up and down the streets between the homes.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • The walls of the old building were covered in a drab, faded paint.

  • In the winter, the landscape looked drab, with bare trees and gray skies.

Synonyms

beige
vsdrab
45 1.3

A light brown colour with a little grey or yellow

is darker and can lean toward yellowish or olive brown
gray-brown
vsdrab
  • US
1 2.0

A brown color mixed with gray

is a dull shade ranging from greyish to yellowish or light olive brown
brownish-gray
vsdrab
  • US
1 2.7

A gray color with a little brown in it

extends this idea to include dull yellowish or olive brown hues
dun
vsdrab
1 6.8

Of a dull brown-grey color

is paler and may include yellowish or light olive variations
earthy color
vsdrab
1 3.5

A natural soft color like brown or green that looks like soil

is one specific dull earth tone ranging to yellowish or olive brown
olive drab
vsdrab
1 5.1

A dull green-brown color often used for military clothes and gear

is a general dull brown range that can include olive hints
olive-drab
vsdrab
1 6.3

A light brownish-green color that you see on military uniforms

is less green and more broadly dull brown to yellowish in tint
grayish brown
vsdrab
  • US
2.7

A light dull brown that looks slightly gray

is similar but also covers slightly yellowish or olive tinted browns
brown-gray
vsdrab
  • US
2.7

A grey color with a little brown in it

is broader, also including yellowish and light olive brown tones
pardo
vsdrab
9.9

A dull brown and gray color like dry earth

is the same muted feel but can be more yellowish or olive
olive brown
vsdrab
4.2

A brown color with a small touch of green like olives

is typically duller and can also be more yellowish than greenish
3.2

A color between brown and yellow

is duller and can be paler, including greyish or light olive tones

Antonyms

110 2.1

Full of interesting stories and lively events

29 3.6

Full of bright, strong colors that attract attention

Compounds

1 5.1

A dull green-brown color often used for military clothes and gear

1 6.3

A light brownish-green color that you see on military uniforms

A United States Army uniform made of dull green cloth

How Dull

dull
31 1.0
dingy
23 4.6
drab
5 5.3
pale
291 1.0
muted
10 4.2

Surface Forms

drab singular
drabs plural

Etymology

Drab as a noun names that dull colour, taken from the plain cloth drap, so you can think of the colour of worn fabric. That's why a carpet or uniform called drab has a grey-brown or light olive tone.