- staid
- \ \ see STAY
Word origins - 2ed. J. Ayto. 2005.
staid
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staid — [ steıd ] adjective serious and rather boring: rather staid medical journals He projects a staid, aloof image. ╾ staid|ly adverb ╾ staid|ness noun uncount … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English
Staid — Staid, a. [From {Stay} to stop.] Sober; grave; steady; sedate; composed; regular; not wild, volatile, flighty, or fanciful. Sober and staid persons. Addison. [1913 Webster] O erlaid with black, staid Wisdom s hue. Milton. [1913 Webster] Syn:… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
staid — staid·ly; staid·ness; un·staid; staid; … English syllables
staid´ly — staid «stayd», adjective, verb. –adj. 1. having a settled, quiet character; sober; sedate: »We think of the Puritans as staid people. SYNONYM(S): grave, serious, steady, composed. 2. settled; unchanging; … Useful english dictionary
Staid — (st[=a]d), imp. & p. p. of {Stay}. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
staid — [steıd] adj [Date: 1500 1600; Origin: From the past participle of stay] serious, old fashioned, and boring ▪ a staid old bachelor … Dictionary of contemporary English
staid — index earnest, phlegmatic, solemn Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 … Law dictionary
staid — (adj.) 1540s, fixed, permanent, adjectival use of stayed, pp. of STAY (Cf. stay) (v.). Meaning sober, sedate first recorded 1550s … Etymology dictionary
staid — sedate, grave, *serious, somber, sober, earnest Analogous words: *decorous, decent, seemly: *cool, collected, composed: smug, priggish, self complacent, *complacent Antonyms: jaunty … New Dictionary of Synonyms
staid — [adj] restrained, set calm, cold sober*, collected, composed, cool, decorous, demure, dignified, earnest, formal, grave, no nonsense*, quiet, sedate, self restrained, serious, settled, sober, solemn, somber, starchy, steady, stuffy, weighty;… … New thesaurus
staid — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ respectable and unadventurous. ORIGIN archaic past participle of STAY(Cf. ↑stayer) … English terms dictionary
