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
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The measure also outperformed expectations in the conservative-leaning Inland Empire.—
Daniel Lempres,
Sacbee.com,
6 Nov. 2025
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Donors poured tens of thousands of dollars into one Boise City Council race where two progressive former allies faced off against a local conservative.—
Idaho Statesman,
Idaho Statesman,
5 Nov. 2025
Noun
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The agreement includes bipartisan bills worked out by the Senate Appropriations Committee to fund parts of government — food aid, veterans programs and the legislative branch, among other things.—
Orianna Rosa Royle,
Fortune,
10 Nov. 2025
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Mills and the Texans’ offense scored a touchdown on all three of their fourth-quarter drives, including the veteran quarterback capping a 14-play, 93-yard drive with a 14-yard run to complete the comeback and give Houston a 30-29 lead — its first of the game.—
Scott Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
10 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Old fogey-ish, ungrateful and stupid.—
Katie Hafner,
Scientific American,
10 Sep. 2025
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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
Noun
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Populists, protectionists, fossil-fuel lobbies, to name a few.—
Natalie Unterstell,
Time,
6 Nov. 2025
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Mongolia has spent years fighting for the return of dinosaur fossils from around the globe.—
Sam Tabachnik,
Denver Post,
6 Nov. 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 18 Nov. 2025.
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