stuffy
Americanadjective
-
close; poorly ventilated.
a stuffy room.
-
oppressive from lack of freshness.
stuffy air; a stuffy odor.
-
lacking in interest, as writing or discourse.
- Synonyms:
- stodgy
-
affected with a sensation of obstruction in the respiratory passages.
a stuffy nose.
-
dull or tedious; boring.
- Synonyms:
- stodgy
-
self-important; pompous.
- Synonyms:
- smug
-
rigid or strait-laced in attitudes, especially in matters of personal behavior.
- Synonyms:
- priggish
-
old-fashioned; conservative.
- Synonyms:
- stodgy
-
ill-tempered; sulky.
adjective
-
lacking fresh air
-
excessively dull, staid, or conventional
-
(of the nasal passages) blocked with mucus
Other Word Forms
- stuffily adverb
- stuffiness noun
- unstuffily adverb
- unstuffiness noun
- unstuffy adjective
Etymology
Origin of stuffy
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.
Spending the next 10 years lamenting Madigan’s potential snub would be nothing more than reductive, implying that her work is only worthy if it’s awarded by stuffy voters who maintain little respect for horror, anyway.
From Salon
“It was the cuisine of America in the ‘60s,” he says, “and it was considered very high-end and chic. Then it became too stuffy and sort of fell out of favor.”
From Salon
Of all the neighborhoods in New York City, the Upper East Side has long had a reputation for being the most boring, old-school and stuffiest part of town.
As I spent an embarrassing length of time trying to force my brain to perform subtraction, all I could think was that I wanted to flee the increasingly stuffy room.
From BBC
The brainchild of Chef Donald Young, the come-as-you-are restaurant is a great gateway for those who find traditional fine dining intimidating or stuffy.
From Salon
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.
