drab vs purple

drab

noun
  • The colour of this fabric. 

  • An instance of a transgender or non-binary person presenting as the gender corresponding to their sex assigned at birth instead of that corresponding to their internal gender identity (for instance, a trans woman dressed as a man). 

  • A dull or uninteresting appearance or situation, unremarkable. 

  • A fabric, usually of thick cotton or wool, having a dull brownish yellow, dull grey, or dun colour. 

  • Often in the plural form drabs: apparel, especially trousers, made from this fabric. 

  • A small amount, especially of money. 

  • A box used in a saltworks for holding the salt when taken out of the boiling pans. 

adj
  • Of the colour of some types of drabcloth: dull brownish yellow or dun. 

  • Particularly of colour: dull, uninteresting. 

purple

noun
  • A color that is a dark blend of red and blue; dark magenta. 

  • Any of the species of large butterflies, usually marked with purple or blue, of the genus Basilarchia (formerly Limenitis). 

  • Purpura. 

  • The purple haze cultivar of cannabis in the kush family, either pure or mixed with others, or by extension any variety of smoked marijuana. 

  • Any of various species of mollusks from which Tyrian purple dye was obtained, especially the common dog whelk. 

  • Earcockle, a disease of wheat. 

  • A cardinalate. 

  • Any non-spectral colour on the line of purples on a colour chromaticity diagram or a colour wheel between violet and red. 

  • Cloth, or a garment, dyed a purple colour; especially, a purple robe, worn as an emblem of rank or authority; specifically, the purple robe or mantle worn by Ancient Roman emperors as the emblem of imperial dignity. 

  • Imperial power, because the colour purple was worn by emperors and kings. 

adj
  • Completed in the fastest time so far in a given session. 

  • Extravagantly ornate, like purple prose. 

  • Mixed between social democrats and liberals. 

  • Imperial; regal. 

  • Not predominantly red or blue, but having a mixture of Democrat and Republican support. 

  • Having a colour/color that is a dark blend of red and blue. 

  • Blood-red; bloody. 

verb
  • To clothe in purple. 

  • To dye purple. 

  • To turn purple in colour. 

How often have the words drab and purple occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )