1
as in close
lacking fresh air
the house was very stuffy after being closed up for a month
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in boring
causing weariness, restlessness, or lack of interest
nothing stuffy about this science museum—it's all interactive and fun
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in irritable
easily irritated or annoyed
those nursing home residents with a reputation for being chronically stuffy were usually the last to receive attention
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of stuffy
But in 2024, do those stuffier parameters—which celebrate beauty above all else—still constitute what makes costuming great?
—
Liam Hess, Vogue, 8 Mar. 2024
And his love of golf is helping to break barriers, with rappers like 2 Chainz and Offset among the celebrities following Khaled’s lead and getting more involved in the historically stuffy, white pastime.
—Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 7 Nov. 2023
Timberland somehow combines street-style sensibility with hiking performance features like mesh linings and OrthoLite footbeds for a full-grain leather boot that wouldn’t look out of place in even the stuffiest office.
—Graham Averill, Outside Online, 13 Apr. 2023
That’s the thing about linen—even the dressiest pieces never look stuffy; there is something inherently casual about them.
—Chadner Navarro, Condé Nast Traveler, 31 July 2023
See all Example Sentences for stuffy 
Liam Hess, Vogue, 8 Mar. 2024
And his love of golf is helping to break barriers, with rappers like 2 Chainz and Offset among the celebrities following Khaled’s lead and getting more involved in the historically stuffy, white pastime.
—Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 7 Nov. 2023
Timberland somehow combines street-style sensibility with hiking performance features like mesh linings and OrthoLite footbeds for a full-grain leather boot that wouldn’t look out of place in even the stuffiest office.
—Graham Averill, Outside Online, 13 Apr. 2023
That’s the thing about linen—even the dressiest pieces never look stuffy; there is something inherently casual about them.
—Chadner Navarro, Condé Nast Traveler, 31 July 2023
See all Example Sentences for stuffy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stuffy
Adjective
-
Saudi Arabia hopes to leverage its close ties with President Donald Trump to provide Iran with a diplomatic bridge to the White House.—
Abbas Al Lawati,
CNN,
16 Feb. 2025
-
Gavin Newsom California's governor is close behind, or tied, with Buttigieg in the recent polling.—
Josh Hammer,
Newsweek,
16 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
Harris, the narrator’s husband: Paul Mescal or Nick Kroll Can Ireland's sexiest chain-wearer reinvent himself as a boring straight guy who's not entirely fulfilling his wife?—
Emma Specter,
Vogue,
13 Feb. 2025
-
From awful ads to a divisive halftime show to a boring game, 10 things to forget.—
Brad Biggs,
Chicago Tribune,
12 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
This misalignment impairs your sleep and concentration, and can leave you feeling irritable.—
Mackenzie Gamble,
The Conversation,
10 Feb. 2025
-
Here’s one way to take your mind off a certain election that seems to have everyone tense and irritable these days — consider that Tahoe ski season is almost here.—
Randy McMullen,
The Mercury News,
31 Oct. 2024
Adjective
-
The first few years of being a parent can be among the most tiring as moms and dads try and often fail to get infants into a regular routine of unbroken sleep at night.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
Newsweek,
5 Feb. 2025
-
No matter the outcome of the AFC Championship Game between the Chiefs and Bills, the winners are anyone who was tiring of the Taylor Swift-Hailee Steinfeld (faux) drama.—
Lisa Gutierrez,
Kansas City Star,
27 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Soto came up as a young player in a Washington Nationals clubhouse seeing players with a variety of different personalities in leadership roles, like the fiery Max Scherzer, the flashy Bryce Harper, the business-like Stephen Strasburg and longtime veterans like Ryan Zimmerman and Howie Kendrick.—
Abbey Mastracco,
New York Daily News,
16 Feb. 2025
-
The dangers of replicating humans and the potential for unethical abuse of the technology are stressed in a dour warning by a senior official on Earth, played with fiery authority in her final screen role by the redoubtable Haydn Gwynne, to whom the film is dedicated.—
David Rooney,
The Hollywood Reporter,
15 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
Can the art of opera ever escape the suffocating grip of its magnificent past?—
Ian Crouch,
The New Yorker,
31 Dec. 2024
-
And congestion pricing will boost our economy by liberating people, goods and services from the most suffocating traffic tie-ups in the entire country.—
Jerry Nadler,
New York Daily News,
13 Dec. 2024
Adjective
-
The landscape is filled with dusty mountains, misty horizons, and, sometimes, desolate and dead hills.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
31 Jan. 2025
-
The new formal name, Cherax pulverulentus, means dusty crayfish in Latin, in homage to the crustacean’s dotted exoskeleton.—
Margherita Bassi,
Smithsonian Magazine,
15 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Moore sprinted down the field in celebration of his game-saving play with 29 seconds left that gave UCLA an unexpectedly breathless 27-20 victory.—
Ben Bolch,
Los Angeles Times,
2 Nov. 2024
-
Jerry Coyne has a post up which critiques an extremely breathless review of a new book, Epigenetics Revolution.—
Razib Khan,
Discover Magazine,
24 Aug. 2011
Thesaurus Entries Near stuffy
Cite this Entry
“Stuffy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stuffy. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share