Frowsy - plus, Do the Names of the Seasons Get Capitalized?

[Merriam-Webster]( WORD OF THE DAY September 26, 2019 frowsy [Audio pronunciation]( adjective | FROW-zee Definition 1 : [musty]( [stale]( 2 : having a slovenly or uncared-for appearance Scroll down for more about frowsy TRENDING NOW: [quid pro quo]( [impeach]( [dastardly]( [stymie]( [SEE ALL [>]]( PEOPLE ARE READING [Do the Names of the Seasons Get Capitalized?]( ['Whistle-Blower': A History]( [Looking at ‘Bothsidesing’]( [On ‘Infringe,’ ‘Encroach,’ and ‘Impinge’]( WORD GAMES AND QUIZZES: WEEKLY CHALLENGE [The Exceptions Quiz III]( Which of these things doesn't belong? [PLAY NOW]( Nailed this quiz? We have plenty more to try! [TAKE ME THERE [>]]( Did You Know? The exact origins of frowsy are perhaps lost in an old, frowsy book somewhere, but some etymologists have speculated that frowsy (also spelled [frowzy]( shares a common ancestor with the younger, chiefly British, word [frowsty]( a synonym of frowsy in both its senses. That ancestor could be the Old French word frouste, meaning "ruinous" or "decayed," or the now-obsolete English word [frough]( or frow , meaning "brittle" or "fragile." An early print example of frowsy can be found in [Thomas Otway's]( 1681 comedy The Souldier's Fortune, wherein the character Beau refers to another character as "a frouzy [Fellmonger]( Examples of FROWSY The lamp, discovered in a frowsy Midwestern antique store, turned out to be quite valuable. "On good days, I could also manage super boring reality TV shows, like 'Escape to the Country,' in which retired British couples go on slow searches for frowsy new homes in sleepy towns, and nobody gets excited about anything." — [Yvonne Abraham, The Boston Globe, 24 Nov. 2018]( Name That Synonym Changing two letters of frowsy, form a synonym of the word. [VIEW THE ANSWER [>]]( MORE WORD FUN: [WORD GAMES [>]]( [TRENDING NOW [>]]( [WORDS AT PLAY [>]]( FOLLOW US: [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( SHARE: [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [View this email in a web browser]( You are receiving this email because you opted in to receive Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day. [Unsubscribe from Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day]( [Manage your subscription settings]( Merriam-Webster, Inc. 47 Federal Street, P.O. Box 281 Springfield, MA, 01102, USA [www.merriam-webster.com]( | [Privacy Policy]( © 2019 by Merriam-Webster, Inc.