ppl. a. (Stress variable.) [UNDER-1 10 a.] Too plainly dressed.
a. 1784. Johnson, in Mrs. Piozzi, Anecd. (1786), 109. No person (said he one day) goes under-dressed till he thinks himself of consequence enough to forbear carrying the badge of his rank upon his back.
1853. Mrs. Gore, Dean’s Daughter, xxvii. [She] ventured to whisper that Mrs. Hargreave had a sadly provincial air—that she was under-dressed, and a dowdy.
1861. Mrs. Beeton, Bk. Househ. Managem., 10. As a general rule … it is better to be under-dressed than overdressed.
