sturdy
1 Americanadjective
-
strongly built; stalwart; robust.
sturdy young athletes.
- Antonyms:
- weak
-
strong, as in substance, construction, or texture.
sturdy walls.
-
firm; courageous; indomitable.
the sturdy defenders of the Alamo.
- Synonyms:
- unconquerable, determined, vigorous, resolute
-
of strong or hardy growth, as a plant.
noun
adjective
-
healthy, strong, and vigorous
-
strongly built; stalwart
noun
Other Word Forms
- sturdied adjective
- sturdily adverb
- sturdiness noun
- unsturdily adverb
- unsturdiness noun
Etymology
Origin of sturdy1
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English stourdi, from Old French estourdi “dazed, reckless, stunned, violent,” past participle of estourdir “to daze, stun,” of disputed origin; perhaps ultimately from Latin ex- ex- 1 ( def. ) + a verb derivative of torpidus “numb,” turbus “disturbed,” or turdus “thrush”
Origin of sturdy2
First recorded in 1560–70; noun use of sturdy 1 in obsolete sense “giddy”
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.
The best approach is to build a sturdy foundation for your investments and to treat crashes the way insurance companies do natural disasters: know the odds and accept that they happen every so often.
She’s more interested in tone than in color, but she has a notable sense of sturdy composition.
Those sturdy boots saved his life during death marches through snow near the end of the war, he wrote.
I started in the produce aisle, as I often do, scanning the marked-down netted bags — imperfect, but still sturdy and fragrant.
From Salon
At last, we found it: a sturdy Douglas fir with boughs that had pleasant symmetry and enough firmness to carry ornaments.
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.
