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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
Adjective
Examples of wooden in a Sentence
Usa Today Network, USA Today, 10 June 2026
Craft beer enthusiast Phil Lemnotis proposed a brewery in the building and the family got to work transforming it into a spacious brewery, retaining the factory’s industrial look with large windows, original brick and flooring and adding a long wooden bar and second-floor taproom.
—Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 9 June 2026
From the kitchen/living area, a wooden door provides access to the home's bathroom.
—New Atlas, 9 June 2026
After being washed and dried, horsehair is sorted by length and stretched onto a simple wooden frame known as a guanga.
—ABC News, 9 June 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 10 Jun. 2026.
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