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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of stuffy
Explanation
A room that's stuffy isn't well-ventilated or full of fresh air. If your classroom is stuffy, you may find it hard to concentrate. Better ask your teacher to open a window. If your car is stuffy, it's hot and there isn't enough fresh air circulating. If your nose is stuffy, it's congested (also without enough air moving through it). When a person is stuffy, he or she is a little prim and proper, without a lot of imagination or a willingness to try new things. The very earliest meaning of this adjective, dating from about 1550, was "full of substance."
Vocabulary lists containing stuffy
The Catcher in the Rye
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Genesis Begins Again
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Finding Langston
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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.
I hooked my arm through the crook of his, turning back toward the empty streets and our stuffy Airbnb.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 19, 2026
There's nothing worse than putting a child to sleep in a stuffy bedroom when you're already sweating.
From BBC • Jun. 19, 2026
What the company is after from the Royal Pop collaboration is cultural relevance and a less stuffy image.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
The logic behind it is firmly rooted in 19th-century London; back then, the city’s financial elite would regularly escape their stuffy urban environs during the summer months.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 29, 2026
But after a while the air began to get hot and stuffy.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
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.
