a woman who wears clothes that are not fashionable 衣着老式的女子 Word Originmid 16th cent.: probably a contraction of late Middle English frumple ‘wrinkle’, from Middle Dutch verrompelen. The word originally denoted a mocking speech or action; later (in the plural) ill humour, the sulks; hence a bad-tempered, (later) dowdy woman (early 19th cent.).