stodgier; stodgiest
1
: having a rich filling quality : heavy
stodgy bread
2
: moving in a slow plodding way especially as a result of physical bulkiness
4
: extremely old-fashioned : hidebound
received a pompously Victorian letter from his stodgy father—
E. E. S. Montagu
E. E. S. Montagu
Synonyms
Examples of stodgy in a Sentence
the sitcom was offbeat and interesting in its first season, but has since become predictable and stodgy
Recent Examples on the Web
Huawei’s innovation has made Apple’s latest models appear stodgy by comparison.
—Tripp Mickle, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2024
The city is famous as the home of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce—a dark, sweet yet sour, almost indescribably English condiment, first sold by a pair of chemists in 1837—which has been doused on two centuries’ worth of shepherd’s pie and other stodgy lunches.
—Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2024
Mental anguish frequently spliced with the physical pain of near-constant hunger, with captives forced to self-ration a combination of small Red Cross parcels — containing canned food, powdered milk and other items — and camp meals, formed mostly of stodgy bread and thin broth.
—Jack Bantock, CNN, 9 Mar. 2024
Many of these book clubs are not the stodgy ones of old, however, featuring wine and crackers in a host’s living room.
—Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN, 23 Feb. 2024
Yet returning to a stodgier variety of GOP conservatism could repulse many working-class newcomers.
—George Hawley, National Review, 25 Jan. 2024
In 2020 and 2021, the jolt of pandemic and favorable economic conditions created an explosion of adoption and investment for companies that hoped to transform some corner of the stodgy health care system with technology.
—Mario Aguilar, STAT, 2 Jan. 2024
Alice Denney, who invigorated the staid if not stodgy arts scene in Washington as one of the city’s first and most prominent champions of the avant-garde, died Nov. 20 at a hospital in the District.
—Emily Langer, Washington Post, 29 Nov. 2023
Among drugmakers, big pharma has a reputation of being stodgy and old-fashioned, while biotech startups are seen as rife with fresher thinking — companies where innovative solutions are actually hatched and are then acquired by those older, bigger firms.
—Andrew Joseph, STAT, 18 Oct. 2023
Tripp Mickle, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2024
The city is famous as the home of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce—a dark, sweet yet sour, almost indescribably English condiment, first sold by a pair of chemists in 1837—which has been doused on two centuries’ worth of shepherd’s pie and other stodgy lunches.
—Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2024
Mental anguish frequently spliced with the physical pain of near-constant hunger, with captives forced to self-ration a combination of small Red Cross parcels — containing canned food, powdered milk and other items — and camp meals, formed mostly of stodgy bread and thin broth.
—Jack Bantock, CNN, 9 Mar. 2024
Many of these book clubs are not the stodgy ones of old, however, featuring wine and crackers in a host’s living room.
—Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN, 23 Feb. 2024
Yet returning to a stodgier variety of GOP conservatism could repulse many working-class newcomers.
—George Hawley, National Review, 25 Jan. 2024
In 2020 and 2021, the jolt of pandemic and favorable economic conditions created an explosion of adoption and investment for companies that hoped to transform some corner of the stodgy health care system with technology.
—Mario Aguilar, STAT, 2 Jan. 2024
Alice Denney, who invigorated the staid if not stodgy arts scene in Washington as one of the city’s first and most prominent champions of the avant-garde, died Nov. 20 at a hospital in the District.
—Emily Langer, Washington Post, 29 Nov. 2023
Among drugmakers, big pharma has a reputation of being stodgy and old-fashioned, while biotech startups are seen as rife with fresher thinking — companies where innovative solutions are actually hatched and are then acquired by those older, bigger firms.
—Andrew Joseph, STAT, 18 Oct. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'stodgy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1854, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Dictionary Entries Near stodgy
Cite this Entry
“Stodgy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stodgy. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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Kids Definition
stodgy
adjective
stodgier; stodgiest
1
: moving in a slow struggling way especially as a result of physical bulkiness
3
: very old-fashioned in attitude or point of view
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