fuddy-duddy
Americannoun
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a person who is stuffy, old-fashioned, and conservative.
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a person who is fussy or picayune about details; fussbudget.
adjective
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stuffy, old-fashioned, and conservative.
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fussy; picayune.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of fuddy-duddy
First recorded in 1900–05; of obscure origin
Explanation
An old-fashioned, fussy person can be called a fuddy-duddy. You might accuse your best friend of being a fuddy-duddy if she prefers staying home drinking tea and reading on Saturday nights, instead of going dancing with you. A fuddy-duddy has no sense of humor and is disapproving and a bit pompous. Fuddy-duddies seem dull and conservative, overly careful, and critical of other people's decisions. While we know fuddy-duddy first appeared in print in the late 1800s, and that it originated in the United States, its origin is a mystery.
Vocabulary lists containing fuddy-duddy
O'Reilly's Lexicon of Epithets
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A Wind in the Door
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Bob Newhart (1929–2024) Tribute List
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He’s a fuddy-duddy, and he only makes it worse his habit of making bad jokes and then reacting petulantly when people don’t laugh at them.
From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2026
Richard Martin says: "It was the 60s, the government wanted to be modern and thrusting, it wanted to get rid of old fuddy-duddy stuff."
From BBC ● Jan. 29, 2023
“She’s always very smartly turned out but appropriate for her age. Not so fuddy-duddy as she used to be.’
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 16, 2022
Second comes the flash of unexpected delight — surprise that an old fuddy-duddy cocktail your grandparents drank could taste so good.
From New York Times ● Feb. 24, 2022
You're a nice old fuddy-duddy that father sent to the spaceport because he figured you'd be too timid to get into trouble.
From The Pirates of Ersatz by Freas, Kelly
We tend to think of people from long ago as credulous, unsophisticated fuddy-duddies.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 13, 2021
In the Spiel, why the Dow is for fuddy-duddies.
From Slate ● Aug. 7, 2017
If those sessions were going on with a bunch of fuddy-duddies they wouldn’t be getting such good results.”
From The Guardian ● Jan. 10, 2016
Judging from appearances, you might peg Mr. Youn as a comic bass, made to order for fuddy-duddies, blusterers, put-upon servants and elderly dupes.
From New York Times ● Feb. 20, 2011
You used an expression, dear,—old fuddy-duddies, was it?
From Three Margarets by Barry, Etheldred B. (Etheldred Breeze)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
