as in conservative
a person with old-fashioned ideas
the committee is dominated by old stick-in-the-muds who have little interest in bringing new ideas to the table
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Recent Examples of stick-in-the-mud
Bostwick starred as the naive stick-in-the-mud and fiancé of Janice, Brad.
—
Skyler Trepel, PEOPLE, 31 Oct. 2025
In the Herbert Ross film, Bacon played big-city teen Ren McCormack, who moves to the small town of Bomont, where its stick-in-the-mud local minster, the Rev. Shaw Moore (John Lithgow), has instituted a ban on dancing.
—EW.com, 9 Nov. 2023
David Corenswet plays, quite literally, a stick-in-the-mud character.
—Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Skyler Trepel, PEOPLE, 31 Oct. 2025
In the Herbert Ross film, Bacon played big-city teen Ren McCormack, who moves to the small town of Bomont, where its stick-in-the-mud local minster, the Rev. Shaw Moore (John Lithgow), has instituted a ban on dancing.
—EW.com, 9 Nov. 2023
David Corenswet plays, quite literally, a stick-in-the-mud character.
—Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stick-in-the-mud
Noun
-
Some of Thomas’s critique appeared to be aimed at weak-willed conservatives, including his fellow-Justices, for being, as Thomas perceives it, too spineless to stand up for the ideals enshrined in the Declaration.—
Ruth Marcus,
New Yorker,
21 May 2026
-
Without enough conservatives to force compromise, contrasting ideas have to come from somewhere else, Akhavan said.—
Sandra McDonald,
Los Angeles Times,
20 May 2026
Noun
-
The veterans were essentially reclamation projects.—
Eric Stephens,
New York Times,
15 May 2026
-
Built in the 17th century under King Louis XIV, the National Institution of Invalides houses dozens of residents — among them military veterans, Holocaust survivors and civilian victims of conflicts and attacks who receive long-term, medically supervised care.—
Sylvie Corbet,
Los Angeles Times,
14 May 2026
Noun
-
There’s no old fogey-ness to Lorne.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
20 Apr. 2026
-
For the benefit of us old fogies?—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
30 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Its head and teeth were not among the fossils recovered, but the researchers have a good idea of its feeding preferences based on other sauropods.—
Reuters,
NBC news,
15 May 2026
-
The fossil economy was built on extraction and combustion, where fuels are dug up, shipped, burned and mostly wasted as heat; the electric economy is built on manufacturing, software, grids, devices and efficiency, where technologies improve, scale and connect.—
Ingmar Rentzhog,
Forbes.com,
15 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Stick-in-the-mud.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stick-in-the-mud. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
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