adjective
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of, relating to, or containing starch
starchy foods
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extremely formal, stiff, or conventional
a starchy manner
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stiffened with starch
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of starchy
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:
We bargain with them to eat a bite or two of vegetables before allowing them second helpings of the starchy things they really want.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026
Andrew says the "worst offenders" include cereal, scrambled eggs, or starchy food with protein-heavy residues.
From BBC ● Feb. 18, 2026
Cavities form when bacteria erode tooth enamel, often due to sugary or starchy foods, inadequate brushing, or genetic factors.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 27, 2025
Sondergard demonstrated a sense of grandeur, sometimes shattering, other times starchy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2025
If you ever eat cattails, be sure to cook them well, otherwise the fibers are tough and they take more chewing to get the starchy food from them than they are worth.
From "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
Firms also want to be able to tailor crops more precisely: producing starchier potatoes for crisp-makers, or protein-rich peas that do not taste like peas for use as a meat substitute.
From BBC ● Mar. 23, 2023
The medium-grain rice, with its delicate floral flavor, is starchier and fluffier than standard long-grain white rice, qualities that help it to cook into individual grains.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 23, 2022
I don’t refry them for as long as I normally would because I like them moist, and vaqueros are starchier than black beans.
From New York Times ● Jul. 1, 2014
Along with Momofuku, these new eateries established a contemporary fusion based on flavor and sass—one that was decidedly greasier and starchier than its white-linen ancestor.
From Slate ● Apr. 12, 2012
The less water, the starchier the water — and the starchier the water, the better your still-dripping pasta will taste once it meets up with your sauce.
From Time ● Jun. 29, 2010
If enough top talent is willing to trade the prestige of Goldman for the flexibility of Citigroup, even the starchiest banks may have to relax a bit.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 11, 2021
He appears to be greeted as a hero, or at least a celebrity, passing "crowded porches" and children "washed and dressed in their best and starchiest clothes, hairs bursting with ribbons."
From US News ● Nov. 6, 2014
He appears to be greeted as a hero, or at least a celebrity, passing “crowded porches” and children “washed and dressed in their best and starchiest clothes, hairs bursting with ribbons.”
From Washington Times ● Nov. 6, 2014
Some conceal this impulse better than others, but not even the starchiest Brooks character can long resist the lure of a cane, a top hat and an up-tempo riff.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2014
When you sit down you can look out between the starchiest of starchy curtains into the yard, where there is an innumerable busy flock of chickens.
From Adventures in Friendship by David Grayson
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.
