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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
Miri Talabac, Baltimore Sun, 21 Apr. 2026
Researchers at the test site set fire to wooden blocks that look like Jenga towers within the buffer zone.
—ABC News, 21 Apr. 2026
As first reported by The Art Newspaper, the gift spans centuries, from 16th-century ceramics to textiles, photographs, wooden objects, prints, and archival material tied to Rivera and his circle.
—Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 21 Apr. 2026
In the painting, a wooden structure fits inside a larger space.
—Ludovica Stevan, Architectural Digest, 21 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for wooden
Cite this Entry
“Wooden.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wooden. Accessed 22 Apr. 2026.
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