Stuffy

//ˈstʌfi// adj, noun, slang

adj, noun, slang ·Common ·Middle school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Synonym of stuffed toy. Canada, US, childish, colloquial, often
Adjective
  1. 1
    Poorly ventilated; partially plugged.

    "I can’t smell very well today – I have a stuffy nose."

  2. 2
    Uncomfortably warm without sufficient air circulation.

    "Abby Jimenez Like my life was a stuffy room, and you’re the breeze that came in when the window opened."

  3. 3
    Stout; mettlesome; resolute.
  4. 4
    Angry and obstinate; sulky. US
  5. 5
    Boring, old-fashioned, uninteresting, over-formal, pompous, very conventional.

    "The stuffy professor droned on as the class lost interest."

Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    Stout; sturdy. Scotland
Adjective
  1. 1
    excessively conventional and unimaginative and hence dull wordnet
  2. 2
    affected with a sensation of stoppage or obstruction wordnet
  3. 3
    lacking fresh air wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
airlessstodgyaccordantairlessanalarid

Example

More examples

"It was very stuffy in that room with all the windows closed."

Etymology

From stuff + -y.

Related phrases

stuffed shirt

More for "stuffy"

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.