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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of stick-in-the-mud
David Corenswet plays, quite literally, a stick-in-the-mud character.
—
Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
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
Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stick-in-the-mud
Noun
-
Or is this intentionally playing to at best, a conservative, at worst, a racist ideal system that is pervasively growing in America?—
Leah Asmelash,
CNN Money,
2 Aug. 2025
-
But many of the Trump administration's demands to schools have been tied to longstanding Republican grievances with higher education, which many conservatives view as too liberal.—
Zachary Schermele,
USA Today,
31 July 2025
Noun
-
But the veterans are still having their say in Europe — and beyond.—
Tamerra Griffin,
New York Times,
26 July 2025
-
Multiple teams have expressed interest in the Royals’ top veterans.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
26 July 2025
Noun
-
These are people who know AI and have grown up with this stuff that these old fogies haven't.—
Alison Snyder,
Axios,
23 Feb. 2025
-
And some of us older fogies, Joni Mitchell and Carole King.—
Lars Brandle,
Billboard,
10 Oct. 2023
Noun
-
The fossils date back to the Cambrian Explosion around half a billion years ago when animal life was evolving in new ways.—
John Leos,
AZCentral.com,
1 Aug. 2025
-
Last year, a team of paleontologists described the fossil for the first time in the journal Papers in Paleontology.—
Sarah Kuta,
Smithsonian Magazine,
28 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stick-in-the-mud.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stick-in-the-mud. Accessed 8 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share