stodgy
Americanadjective
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heavy, dull, or uninteresting; tediously commonplace; boring.
a stodgy Victorian novel.
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of a thick, semisolid consistency; heavy, as food.
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stocky; thick-set.
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old-fashioned; unduly formal and traditional.
a stodgy old gentleman.
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dull; graceless; inelegant.
a stodgy business suit.
adjective
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(of food) heavy or uninteresting
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excessively formal and conventional
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of stodgy
Explanation
The Queen's guards outside Buckingham Palace might seem stodgy (or stuffy and stuck-up), but they are only doing their job. Stodgy is an adjective to describe anything dull, out-of-style, or even hard to digest. Just your luck getting stuck sitting next to stodgy Aunt Irma at Thanksgiving! From the looks of her stodgy moth-smelling clothes to her stodgy or dull conversation, chances are it will be a long meal. Just hope the mashed potatoes are light and fluffy.
Vocabulary lists containing stodgy
This Is Not a Drill: Synonyms for "Boring"
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"Slam: Performance Poetry Lives On" and "Euphoria"
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The World Is Flat
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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.
They are no longer stodgy arrangements used by the uber-wealthy to wall off their money.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026
The equal-weight index is off to one of its best starts to a year in decades as stodgy stocks get rediscovered.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 11, 2026
Putnam’s post-Earhart life was a roller coaster of cash woes and notoriety; the following year he staged his own kidnapping, alienating his stodgy publishing community.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 11, 2025
Without proper mise en place — ingredients prepped, broth warmed, tools within reach — you risk a gummy, stodgy disappointment.
From Salon • Feb. 14, 2025
Theo is part of the stodgy establishment, a company man, while Vincent is the passionate worker, the artist.
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
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.
