stodgy

Unknown, but possibly from stodge (“to stuff”), from stog, or a blend of stuffy +‎ podgy.

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: stŏʹjē, IPA^(key): /ˈstɒ.d͡ʒi/

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• Rhymes: -ɒdʒi

stodgy (comparative stodgier or more stodgy, superlative stodgiest or most stodgy)

1. (of food) Having a thick, semi-solid consistency; glutinous; heavy on the stomach.
2. (figurative) Dull, old-fashioned.

   I gave up trying to get that stodgy club to try anything new.

   • 1915, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, Of Human Bondage, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, →OCLC:

     "What's the matter with you?" — "Nothing. I'm sorry to be so damned emotional, but for six months I've been starved for beauty." — "You used to be so matter of fact. It's very interesting to hear you say that." — "Damn it all, I don't want to be interesting," laughed Philip. "Let's go and have a stodgy tea."

   • 1918 August, Katherine Mansfield [pseudonym; Kathleen Mansfield Murry], “Bliss”, in Bliss and Other Stories, London: Constable & Company, published 1920, →OCLC, page 124:

     “. . . Why! Why! Why is the middle-class so stodgy—so utterly without a sense of humour! My dear, it's only by a fluke that I am here at all—Norman being the protective fluke.”

   • 2013 August 14, Daniel Taylor, “Rickie Lambert's debut goal gives England victory over Scotland”, in The Guardian‎:

     The Southampton striker, who also struck a post late on, was being serenaded by the Wembley crowd before the end and should probably brace himself for some Lambert-mania over the coming days but, amid the eulogies, it should not overlook the deficiencies that were evident in another stodgy England performance.

3. (dated) Badly put together.

• stodgily
• stodginess