wooden

[wood-n]

adjective

1. consisting or made of wood; wood.

   a wooden ship.

2. stiff, ungainly, or awkward.

   a wooden gait.

3. without spirit, animation, or awareness.

   Synonyms: impassive, lifeless, vacant, expressionless

4. dull or stupid.

5. indicating the fifth event of a series, as a wedding anniversary.

wooden

/ ˈwʊdən /

adjective

1. made from or consisting of wood

2. awkward or clumsy

3. bereft of spirit or animation

   a wooden expression

4. obstinately unyielding

   a wooden attitude

5. mentally slow or dull

6. not highly resonant

   a wooden thud

verb

1. slang,  (tr) to fell or kill (a person or animal)

Other Word Forms

• woodenly adverb
• woodenness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of wooden¹

First recorded in 1530–40; wood ¹ + -en ²

Example Sentences

The Wi-Fi in my building was spotty at best, so I made the campus library my office, spreading out back issues of “Martha Stewart Living” and stacks of cookbooks across a long wooden table.

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In Saul Valdivia’s preschool classroom, a neon green light emanates from underneath the opaque surface of a wooden table.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Look up and you might see a wagon filled with hay bales or a thick wooden staircase.

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In an elegant wooden cabin nestled in the forest on Cape Town's outskirts, he is about to undergo his second psychedelic experience to treat a series of mental health issues he has been suffering from.

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At the ICE facility in Broadview on Saturday night, police pulled out wooden batons and pushed the crowd down the street, threatening to deploy tear gas if people didn’t disperse and go home.

Read more on Los Angeles Times