stuffed shirt

noun

1. a pompous, self-satisfied, and inflexible person.

stuffed shirt

noun

1. informal.
   a pompous or formal person

Word History and Origins

Origin of stuffed shirt¹

An Americanism dating back to 1910–15

Idioms and Phrases

An overly formal or pompous person, as in She's such a stuffed shirt that I'm surprised you'd invite her to a barbecue . This expression alludes to a shirt filled with paper (instead of a real person). [c. 1900]

Example Sentences

He had been herded into a corner by Johnson, Aunt Gretchen's stuffed shirt of a butler, who was standing guard over him.

From Project Gutenberg

Nayland is a stuffed shirt of the first stuffing, and a tinpot Hitler to boot, but he is fanatically and incorruptibly patriotic.

From Project Gutenberg

I'm tired of all that other crowd—the stuffed shirt brigade, you know.

From Project Gutenberg

He characterized Frank Shabata by a Bohemian expression which is the equivalent of stuffed shirt.

From Project Gutenberg

He turned to the crowd, which looked on in stunned silence, and tucked in his money-stuffed shirt.

From Project Gutenberg