Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Excessively conventional, unimaginative, and dull: Describes something or someone that is overly traditional, lacking in creativity or excitement, and therefore boring.
   • (Used pejoratively) Out of fashion; old-fashioned: Describes ideas, styles, or things that are considered outdated or no longer modern.
   • Heavy, starchy, and hard to digest: Describes food that is very filling, often dense with carbohydrates, and can feel heavy in the stomach.

Examples of Usage

• Describing something conventional/dull:
  • The lecture was so stodgy that half the audience fell asleep.
  • He has a stodgy, conservative approach to management.
• Describing something old-fashioned:
  • The club's stodgy rules haven't changed since the 1950s.
  • Her stodgy views on technology are holding the team back.
• Describing food:
  • After the stodgy meal of meat and potatoes, I felt too full to move.
  • The pudding was delicious but incredibly stodgy.

Advanced Usage

• "Stodginess" (noun): The quality of being stodgy.
  • The stodginess of the institution prevents any real innovation.
• Used to describe abstract concepts like institutions, writing, or atmospheres.
  • The report was criticized for its stodgy prose.
  • The party had a stodgy atmosphere, with everyone standing around quietly.

Variants and Related Words

• Stodge (noun): Heavy, starchy food.
  • I can't eat all this stodge.
• Stodgily (adverb): In a stodgy manner.
  • The committee stodgily rejected every new proposal.

Synonyms

• Dull: Lacking interest or excitement.
• Unimaginative: Lacking creativity or originality.
• Heavy: (For food) Solid and filling, making you feel full quickly.
• Outdated: No longer current or modern.
• Tedious: Too long, slow, or dull; tiresome.

Antonyms

• Innovative: Featuring new methods; advanced and original.
• Light: (For food) Easy to digest; not heavy or rich.
• Modern: Relating to the present or recent times.
• Exciting: Causing great enthusiasm and eagerness.
• Imaginative: Having or showing creativity or inventiveness.

Related Idioms/Phrases

• "A stodgy old...": A common collocation used to emphasize that something is both boring and outdated.
  • He works for a stodgy old bank that still uses paper files.
• While "stodgy" itself is not typically part of phrasal verbs, it is often used in the phrase "stodgy and..." paired with similar adjectives for emphasis.
  • The textbook was stodgy and impenetrable.

Adjective

1. excessively conventional and unimaginative and hence dull
   • why is the middle class so stodgy, so utterly without a sense of humor?
   • a stodgy dinner party
2. (used pejoratively) out of fashion; old fashioned
   • moss-grown ideas about family life
3. heavy and starchy and hard to digest
   • stodgy food
   • a stodgy pudding served up when everyone was already full