🧓 Very old-fashioned 👞 Flat-fronted shape

square-toed

8.8

Very old-fashioned and formal in behavior or views

adjective
/ˈskwɛr toʊd/

Informal

: conservador

The square-toed teacher insisted on strict dress codes and formal language in class.

Examples

Despite her young age, Maria had a square-toed view of social behavior.
His square-toed opinions were often at odds with his creative colleagues.
She has a very square-toed attitude towards fashion.
Her square-toed demeanor made her seem unapproachable.
The square-toed teacher enforced strict rules in the classroom, leaving no room for personal expression.
His square-toed beliefs about marriage contrasted sharply with his friends' more liberal views.
With a square-toed demeanor, she approached every discussion with a focus on tradition and propriety.

Synonyms

square

vssquare-toed

Offensive

77 7.7

Very old-fashioned and not willing to try new things

is more about being proper and old-fashioned rather than mere stubbornness

puritanical

vssquare-toed

14 8.2

Disapproving of pleasure and very strict about moral behavior

is more about conventional properness and old-fashioned manners than moral austerity

prissy

vssquare-toed

Informal

13 7.9

Too fussy about being neat and proper

is more about overall old-fashioned conventionality rather than fussiness

Victorian

vssquare-toed

8 8.2

Having very strict old-fashioned ideas about sex and how people should behave

focuses on general exaggerated propriety not only sexual moral strictness

prudish

vssquare-toed

8 7.1

Easily shocked by sex and strict about modesty

is broader meaning extreme conventional properness beyond sexual sensitivity

straight-laced

vssquare-toed

4 7.1

Very strict about correct behavior and manners

is broader meaning old-fashioned conventionality not only disapproval

prim

vssquare-toed

4 7.0

Very formal and proper in a stiff, old-fashioned way

is about strong conventionality and old-fashioned propriety rather than just manners

straitlaced

vssquare-toed

1 8.4

Very strict about manners and morals and disapproving of anything seen as improper

tends to mean conventional properness more than moral condemnation

priggish

vssquare-toed

Offensive

1 9.9

Acting as if you are better than others about rules and manners

is more neutrally conventional and old-fashioned, not mainly moral superiority

strait-laced

vssquare-toed

1 7.8

Very strict about behavior and dress

is about being old-fashioned and proper rather than harsh judgment

straightlaced

vssquare-toed

1 8.2

Having very strict rules about proper behaviour and dress

is more about old-fashioned conventionality than moral intensity

tight-laced

vssquare-toed

8.1

Being very strict about how people behave and dress

focuses more on being conventionally old-fashioned rather than moral strictness

Antonyms

unconventional

77 6.2

Different from what most people do or accept

free spirit

23 4.8

A person who follows their own way and ignores social rules

How Conventional

square-toed

Informal

8.8

old-fashioned

149 4.7

conventional

175 2.8

modern

∞ 1.4

Surface Forms

square-toed positive

Morphology

square-toed = square + toed (semi-transparent) = square + toed

The phrase derives from the literal shoe description but the sense extends metaphorically to describe conservative or old-fashioned attitudes, which requires cultural/pragmatic knowledge.

Etymology

The word square-toed can also mean a person who is very old-fashioned or too proper. A helpful way to remember this is to think of the square shoe: square ('not modern or strict') and toe ('shoe front'), so a 'square-toed' person is like that formal, old-style shoe.