Definition of WOODEN

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Humans have been making objects out of wood since before there even was an English language, but the adjectival use of "wood" didn't come into being until the 14th century, and "wooden" didn't appear until the 16th. (The word wood has ancient roots, but it originally existed only as a noun.) In Middle English, the adjective of choice was "tree" or "treen," as in a "tree vessel" or "treen shoes." "Treen" in turn came from the Old English word trēowen, from the noun "trēow" ("tree") and the suffix -en, which was used to indicate that something was composed of a certain material. As far as we know, no one ever used "treen" figuratively to describe things that are stiff as a board, but "wooden" was put to broader use soon after it was first recorded.

Examples of wooden in a Sentence

The guest speaker was wooden and uninspiring. a movie with wooden dialogue

Recent Examples on the Web

Juvenile complaint, Riverside Park After seeing boys skateboarding on the wooden floor of the shelter at 6:43 p.m. June 2, a woman called police. — Joan Rusek, cleveland.com, "Woman’s ex-boyfriend threatens to break man’s kneecaps: Chagrin Falls Police Blotter," 5 June 2019 Transfer the batter to the baking dish, then press it in and level it with the back of a spatula or wooden spoon. — Ashley Rodriguez, Woman's Day, "Salted Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars," 10 Apr. 2019 For example, a deep drawer can be used to store pots and pants or serving dishes, while a shallow drawer on top keeps wooden spoons, ladles, and other utensils organized. — Jessica Dailey, Good Housekeeping, "Just Right," 11 Feb. 2019 Buying one of those wooden blocks with a preselected assortment of knives is fine for some people. — Francine Maroukian, Popular Mechanics, "How To Buy Kitchen Knives Like a Pro," 24 Oct. 2018 In the pingshu tradition, the performer wears a traditional gown and sits behind a desk equipped with a folding fan and a wooden block, which is used like a gavel. — Amy Qin, The Seattle Times, "Shan Tianfang, a superstar of Chinese storytelling, dies at 83," 17 Sep. 2018 Some stock tank swimming pool owners add surrounding rock tiles to provide makeshift flooring, while others splurge on premium wooden decks and siding. — Jessica Leigh Mattern, Country Living, "Stock Tank Pools Will Be More Popular Than Ever This Summer," 9 May 2019 Instead, Jo says makeup artists light the end of wooden sticks (typically used for tteokbokki, Korean rice cakes), on fire before blowing it out and pressing them against lashes to curl them. — Devon Abelman, Allure, "These Are the Biggest Makeup Trends in South Korea in 2019," 8 May 2019 While the cast ate from wooden bowls and swigged from goblets (except for Tormund, who chugged his drink from a horn), the coffee cup was definitely out of place. — Erica Gonzales, Harper's BAZAAR, "The Rogue Coffee Cup in Game of Thrones Has Been Edited Out," 7 May 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'wooden.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.