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Glite Dictionary
👔 With collar buttons 🧑‍💼 Very conservative
button-down

button-down

4 6.7
Very formal in dress or behaviour and not open to new ideas
  • adjective
  • /ˈbʌtənˌdaʊn/
  • Informal
: convencional
  • Each of them was more creative and more productive than the average button-down-collar-wearing corporate plug-in personality.
  • live a button-down

You were very button down and professional then you you love getting the laughs, the chuckles.

Examples

  • I do understand that because you are a published author, you may feel compelled to produce politically correct articles and dispense button-down type answers.

    Blog text (25)

  • How about if we just go quietly into the bathroom and I wash your mouth out with soap—you pathetic button-down bureaucratic asshole?

    Fiction book (1996)

  • You were very button down and professional then you you love getting the laughs, the chuckles.

    Team Coco

  • We lived in a button-down suburb of Boston, and we were waking up the neighbors one by one.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • The second one isn't quite as introverted as the first, and the third isn't quite the button-down conformist the other two are.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • Many people find the button-down dress code at the office to be stifling and uninspiring.

  • She prefers to wear colorful and creative outfits, unlike her button-down colleagues.

  • His button-down personality made him less willing to try new experiences or take risks.

Synonyms

conservative
vsbutton-down
∞ 4.6

Does not want big changes and likes traditional values

is focused on unimaginative conventional appearance and behavior rather than politics
buttoned-down
vsbutton-down
  • Informal
15 7.1

Very formal and traditional in dress, behavior, or thinking

is the same meaning but in a different word form
buttoned-up
vsbutton-down
  • Formal
4 7.4

Very formal and conservative in dress and manner at work or events

is more about unimaginative conventional appearance and lack of originality

Antonyms

original
253 3.6

New and different, not copied from others

unconventional
76 6.2

Different from what most people do or accept

How Conventional

stodgy
9 7.8
button-down
  • Informal
4 6.7
traditional
979 1.5
conventional
287 2.8
original
253 3.6

Surface Forms

button-down positive
button-downer comparative
button-downest superlative

Morphology

button-down = button-down (opaque) = down + button

The adjective is a figurative conversion from the clothing/style term, and the meaning 'conventional or conservative' is not predictable from standard word-formation rules.

Etymology

Button-down also describes people or places that are very neat and traditional. This meaning comes from the tidy look of a shirt with its collar buttoned down, so calling someone button-down says they are careful and not daring.