stick-in-the-mud

American  

[stik-in-thuh-muhd] / ˈstɪk ɪn ðəˌmʌd /

noun

1. someone who avoids new activities, ideas, or attitudes; old fogy.

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stick-in-the-mud British  

noun

1. informal  a staid or predictably conservative person who lacks initiative or imagination

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Etymology

Origin of stick-in-the-mud

First recorded in 1725–35

Example Sentences

Like the husband is super funny and the wife is a stick-in-the-mud.

From Los Angeles Times

The way Yolanda sees it, Sam is the stick-in-the-mud who “stole” an important grant from under her nose.

From Washington Post

In 1961 he criticized British industry as a bastion for “the smug and the stick-in-the-mud,” calling failures in manufacturing and commerce “a national defeat.”

From New York Times

There’s no question that Cary Grant’s serpentine charm wins out over Ralph Bellamy’s stick-in-the-mud decency, but not everyone is “sold American” on Walter Burns.

From New York Times

Did you feel like you were playing a feminist stick-in-the-mud?

From The New Yorker