stodgy

adjective

ˈstä-jē 

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

3

: boring, dull

out on a peaceful rather stodgy Sunday boat trip

—Edna Ferber

4

: extremely old-fashioned : hidebound

received a pompously Victorian letter from his stodgy father

—E. E. S. Montagu

5

a

: drab

b

: dowdy

stodgily

ˈstä-jə-lē 

adverb

stodginess

ˈstä-jē-nəs 

noun

Synonyms

• boring
• slow
• old
• tiring
• stupid
• dull
• weary
• dusty
• wearying
• heavy

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

Many of the stodgier unwritten rules are ignored or no longer enforced, but some things remain constant, especially in the stands. —Andrew Baggarly, New York Times, 23 Aug. 2025

Peter Pan is the avatar of eternal childhood, refusal to become a stodgy old pirate. —Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 19 Aug. 2025

An attempt to open a cleaner, stodgier club in the old space was dead by 2007. —Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 11 Aug. 2025

These were stodgy firms, anchors in the military-industrial complex, codependent on the government, with their own bureaucracies. —Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, 28 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1854, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for stodgy

• dodgy
• demagogy
• laryngology
• teleology

Kids Definition

stodgy

adjective

ˈstäj-ē 

stodgier; stodgiest

1

: moving in a slow struggling way especially as a result of physical bulkiness

2

: having no excitement or interest : dull, boring

a stodgy day

3

: very old-fashioned in attitude or point of view

stodgily

ˈstäj-ə-lē 

adverb