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.
When it was founded in Aberdeenshire the firm portrayed itself as a rebellious challenger to a UK brewing industry it regarded as stuffy and corporate.
From BBC
To pass the time, people told stories and often sang long into the night, anything to avoid the stuffy cabins underneath their feet.
From Literature
He sounded like a pig with a stuffy nose.
From Literature
Being home-schooled meant I didn’t have to ride squished on a smelly old bus, or sit still in a stuffy room all day long.
From Literature
Petrol, raw fish, and stale sweat dominated a battle of odors for the stuffy space.
From Literature
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.
