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.
Call it a rolling away of the stone from stuffy religiosity.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026
William is also looking to lay the groundwork to become a different kind of monarch than King Charles, aiming for a less formal, less stuffy style.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 11, 2026
“This doesn’t have to be a stuffy, fourth-wall drama,” says Michael Fell, the show’s creative director.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 10, 2025
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 • Oct. 23, 2025
He was trembling, but not with cold: the stuffy runs of the Mark were dense with thunder; the air felt like a deep drift of leaves.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
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.
