Skip to main content
stodginess

stodginess

8.4
A serious, old-fashioned style that feels boring
  • noun
  • /ˈstɑdʒɪnəs/
  • UK
translation icon : aburrimiento
  • The meeting was filled with a sense of stodginess, making it difficult to engage with the ideas presented.

Examples

  • Many people avoid such events because of the stodginess of the formal dress code.

  • The stodginess of such a career was symbolized by the stodginess of their dress.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • The stodginess of such a career was symbolized by the stodginess of their dress.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • So both superficiality and stodginess, I think, are our own two worst attributes.

  • It seemed to be a gesture against public art and museum stodginess, and so on.

    Academic text (2012)
  • His reluctance to try new activities contributed to the stodginess of his personality.

Synonyms

boringness
vsstodginess
2 3.8

A state that makes you lose interest

leans more toward heavy, solemn tone than mere boredom
blandness
vsstodginess
1 4.1

A pleasant, polite style that feels too safe or insincere

is firmer and more serious, lacking charm rather than smoothness
dreariness
vsstodginess
1 6.2

A dull, gloomy feeling that makes things seem not interesting

is less about gloom and more about solemn lack of imagination
deadness
vsstodginess
1 5.3

A state of no life or energy that makes a person feel empty

is more about stiff seriousness than complete lack of life
mundanity
vsstodginess
1 7.2

A state of being ordinary and not interesting

is marked by extra solemnity and resistance to lively ideas
vapidity
vsstodginess
1 9.3

A lack of energy and interest in speech or writing

has an added heavy, overly serious tone compared with dullness
dullness
vsstodginess
1 3.7

Something that is not interesting or exciting

adds a formal, dull seriousness beyond ordinary uninterest
lifelessness
vsstodginess
1 5.4

A lack of life, energy, or movement

carries extra solemn stiffness rather than only low energy
drabness
vsstodginess
1 5.1

A plain, dull appearance with no bright color or style

is heavier and more solemn rather than only visually plain
insipidity
vsstodginess
1 9.6

Lack of flavor or interest that makes something dull

adds an overly serious, conservative mood not just flatness
stuffiness
vsstodginess
1 8.0

A very formal, dull mood where people act too serious

is dull through plain solemnity rather than social pomposity
prosaicness
vsstodginess
9.1

The quality of being ordinary and not exciting

is more heavily solemn and resistant to lively expression
prosiness
vsstodginess
9.9

A dull way of writing or speaking that is not creative

carries extra seriousness and lack of sparkle beyond plainness
vapidness
vsstodginess
8.4

A feeling that something is dull and boring

is weightier and more solemn rather than merely empty
insipidness
vsstodginess
8.2

Being dull and without strong taste or interest

includes a stiffer, more solemn quality than mere blandness
ponderousness
vsstodginess
9.1

A way of speaking or writing that is slow and boring

is less about weight and more about dull solemnity and narrowness
dragginess
vsstodginess
8.9

A slow, dull feeling that makes you tired

is characterized more by starchy seriousness than mere slowness
tameness
vsstodginess
5.8

The quality of being boring and unoriginal

is stiffer and more solemn instead of simply unadventurous
mundaneness
vsstodginess
6.7

A state of being ordinary and not exciting

adds a heavy, overly serious tone beyond plain ordinariness
dowdiness
vsstodginess
8.2

A style of dressing that looks plain and old-fashioned

is more about sober, serious character than mere unfashionableness

Antonyms

717 2.8

The ability to form new pictures and ideas in your mind that are not real

3 3.4

A feeling of energy and excitement that makes people active

How Dull

stodginess
  • UK
8.4
tedium
10 6.8
dullness
1 2.2
staleness
1 3.9

Surface Forms

stodginess singular
stodginesses plural

Morphology

stodginess = stodgy (transparent) = stodgy + ness

The noun is a regular nominalization of the adjective 'stodgy' with '-ness', yielding the expected meaning 'the quality of being stodgy'.

Etymology

Stodginess comes from stodgy, which comes from stodge, an old word for heavy, filling food. If a meal is so filling it makes you slow and sleepy, that image helps: stodginess means being dull, slow, or lacking imagination.