as in conservative
a person with old-fashioned ideas
a fuddy-duddy who thought that anyone too young to vote shouldn't be out past 8:00 p.m.
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in stodgy
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Recent Examples of fuddy-duddy
William Earl, Variety, 30 Nov. 2025
To some, Superman is a fuddy-duddy in a cape.
—Ken Makin, Christian Science Monitor, 9 July 2025
Her characters were women whose roles often implied their own eventual replacements: teachers, fading former love interests, fuddy-duddy old-fashioned relics.
—Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 27 Sep. 2024
The good news is that for every fuddy-duddy like myself who can’t seem to get on board with crowdfunding kids’ lives, there are twice as many generous, kind-hearted individuals willing to give a little—or a lot—toward schools, sports, and charities.
—Melissa Willets, Parents, 3 Feb. 2024
Another group of screenwriters have mocked Ms. Lombardini online as a fuddy-duddy who hangs out at chain restaurants, the taunt being that no Hollywood person would be caught dead in one.
—John Koblin, New York Times, 28 Aug. 2023
Noun
For someone who’s constantly on speakerphone, Tommy sure is a fuddy-duddy about using it correctly.
—William Earl, Variety, 30 Nov. 2025
To some, Superman is a fuddy-duddy in a cape.
—Ken Makin, Christian Science Monitor, 9 July 2025
Her characters were women whose roles often implied their own eventual replacements: teachers, fading former love interests, fuddy-duddy old-fashioned relics.
—Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 27 Sep. 2024
The good news is that for every fuddy-duddy like myself who can’t seem to get on board with crowdfunding kids’ lives, there are twice as many generous, kind-hearted individuals willing to give a little—or a lot—toward schools, sports, and charities.
—Melissa Willets, Parents, 3 Feb. 2024
Another group of screenwriters have mocked Ms. Lombardini online as a fuddy-duddy who hangs out at chain restaurants, the taunt being that no Hollywood person would be caught dead in one.
—John Koblin, New York Times, 28 Aug. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fuddy-duddy
Noun
-
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) acknowledged on Wednesday that the upper chamber is now eyeing a third reconciliation bill that some conservatives at one point worried would not materialize.—
Sarah Bedford,
The Washington Examiner,
13 May 2026
-
Many eyes will be on the Peach State as Governor Brian Kemp completes his second term, unable to run again, and leaving a vacuum for a new conservative, or liberal, leader in the South.—
Irene Wright,
USA Today,
13 May 2026
Adjective
-
United produced a string of stodgy displays in February and March.—
Carl Anka,
New York Times,
3 May 2026
-
Luxury ships often lean stodgy, yet Silver Nova offers that upbeat, higher-energy feel that upper-premium and premium lines provide.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
15 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The veterans were essentially reclamation projects.—
Eric Stephens,
New York Times,
15 May 2026
-
Built in the 17th century under King Louis XIV, the National Institution of Invalides houses dozens of residents — among them military veterans, Holocaust survivors and civilian victims of conflicts and attacks who receive long-term, medically supervised care.—
Sylvie Corbet,
Los Angeles Times,
14 May 2026
Adjective
-
Kudrow plays Valerie Cherish playing Aunt Sassy, a dowdy sidekick character.—
Michael Schulman,
New Yorker,
16 Mar. 2026
-
Memorably dowdy fashion notwithstanding, the juicy role — part Nurse Ratched, part Jack Torrance — launched Bates into the Hollywood ether following years of false starts.—
Darren Franich,
Entertainment Weekly,
15 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
There’s no old fogey-ness to Lorne.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
20 Apr. 2026
-
For the benefit of us old fogies?—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
But rather than simply repeat the even-then ossified list of events leading to the invention of photography and the medium’s later innovations, the book uses a series of stories, reminiscences, and tall tales to describe how photography transformed everyday (and not so everyday) experience.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 Apr. 2026
-
Lockhart, a mathematician who taught first at Brown University and UC Santa Cruz and then for many years at Saint Ann’s, a progressive private school in Brooklyn, argues that the injury is due to our ossified K–12 mathematics curriculum.—
Dan Rockmore,
The New York Review of Books,
19 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Bostwick starred as the naive stick-in-the-mud and fiancé of Janice, Brad.—
Skyler Trepel,
PEOPLE,
31 Oct. 2025
-
In the Herbert Ross film, Bacon played big-city teen Ren McCormack, who moves to the small town of Bomont, where its stick-in-the-mud local minster, the Rev. Shaw Moore (John Lithgow), has instituted a ban on dancing.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
9 Nov. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Fuddy-duddy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fuddy-duddy. Accessed 16 May. 2026.
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