buttoned-up
Americanadjective
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conservative, as in professional style or manner.
Employers are looking for buttoned-up types.
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carefully planned, operated, supervised, etc..
It's one of the most buttoned-up companies in the business.
Etymology
Origin of buttoned-up
First recorded in 1935–40
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.
The disappearance of Guthrie, a crime that remains uncracked after more than three weeks, is the rare story that spans the breadth of tabloid gossip and buttoned-up newspaper reporting.
From Slate • Feb. 23, 2026
People who know Selig described him as buttoned-up and cordial, with a thoughtful rather than dogmatic approach to the legal questions around crypto and prediction markets.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 21, 2026
Notwithstanding a change of hair or profession, Demascus remains more or less himself as shapes shift around him — the protagonist, basically a good guy, a little buttoned-up, a little insecure.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 7, 2025
Her shirt might be undone, in contrast to the severe, buttoned-up tailoring of last week, but her shoulders are sharp and accentuated.
From BBC • Jan. 27, 2025
And it isn’t a buttoned-up polite sort of place like the Hill, either.
From "X: A Novel" by Ilyasah Shabazz
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.
