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blowsy or blowzy (BLOU-zee)* - adj., disheveled in appearance, unkempt; having a ruddy, coarse complexion.
With a tertiary sense of unrefined/countrified. I've always understood this with a complimentary overtone, a sort of attractively windblown idea, but this turns out to be wrong -- so mishearing it as lousy is not out of line. Learn something every day. This dates to the early 18th century, an adjectival form of the now completely obsolete blowse/blowze, wench, and also specifically a ruddy, chubby-faced woman, origin not found.
* Okay, my phonetic pronunciation system still needs refinement. Normally I'd render the vowel sounds of the first syllable as /ow/, indicating a rhyme with "cow," but /blow/ reads as rhyming with "slow." /ou/ is my best compromise.
---L.
With a tertiary sense of unrefined/countrified. I've always understood this with a complimentary overtone, a sort of attractively windblown idea, but this turns out to be wrong -- so mishearing it as lousy is not out of line. Learn something every day. This dates to the early 18th century, an adjectival form of the now completely obsolete blowse/blowze, wench, and also specifically a ruddy, chubby-faced woman, origin not found.
* Okay, my phonetic pronunciation system still needs refinement. Normally I'd render the vowel sounds of the first syllable as /ow/, indicating a rhyme with "cow," but /blow/ reads as rhyming with "slow." /ou/ is my best compromise.
---L.
