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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.
Synonyms of wooden
Examples of wooden in a Sentence
Noelle Alviz-Gransee, Kansas City Star, 8 Dec. 2025
Storage is oddly placed and often useless and the third row is like sitting on a hard wooden crate.
—New Atlas, 7 Dec. 2025
While Jennifer and her mom, 87, were expecting to walk into a typical holiday photoshoot, the familiar wooden table, green refrigerator and sliding glass doors immediately brought Garner to tears.
—Desiree Anello, PEOPLE, 7 Dec. 2025
Instead, Shimizu must do her best with wooden boards, pipes, a knife, and later an axe.
—Richard Newby, Time, 6 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for wooden
Cite this Entry
“Wooden.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wooden. Accessed 13 Dec. 2025.
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