as in conservative
a person with old-fashioned ideas
a fuddy-duddy who thought that anyone too young to vote shouldn't be out past 8:00 p.m.
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in stodgy
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Recent Examples of fuddy-duddy
William Earl, Variety, 30 Nov. 2025
Her characters were women whose roles often implied their own eventual replacements: teachers, fading former love interests, fuddy-duddy old-fashioned relics.
—Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 27 Sep. 2024
The good news is that for every fuddy-duddy like myself who can’t seem to get on board with crowdfunding kids’ lives, there are twice as many generous, kind-hearted individuals willing to give a little—or a lot—toward schools, sports, and charities.
—Melissa Willets, Parents, 3 Feb. 2024
Another group of screenwriters have mocked Ms. Lombardini online as a fuddy-duddy who hangs out at chain restaurants, the taunt being that no Hollywood person would be caught dead in one.
—John Koblin, New York Times, 28 Aug. 2023
Noun
For someone who’s constantly on speakerphone, Tommy sure is a fuddy-duddy about using it correctly.
—William Earl, Variety, 30 Nov. 2025
Her characters were women whose roles often implied their own eventual replacements: teachers, fading former love interests, fuddy-duddy old-fashioned relics.
—Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 27 Sep. 2024
The good news is that for every fuddy-duddy like myself who can’t seem to get on board with crowdfunding kids’ lives, there are twice as many generous, kind-hearted individuals willing to give a little—or a lot—toward schools, sports, and charities.
—Melissa Willets, Parents, 3 Feb. 2024
Another group of screenwriters have mocked Ms. Lombardini online as a fuddy-duddy who hangs out at chain restaurants, the taunt being that no Hollywood person would be caught dead in one.
—John Koblin, New York Times, 28 Aug. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fuddy-duddy
Noun
-
Those comments largely served as a testament to the staunch conservative’s willingness to work across the aisle to secure funding for his district.—
Kacen Bayless,
Kansas City Star,
1 Apr. 2026
-
The court, in which conservatives hold a 6-3 majority, will decide whether to uphold its 1898 ruling that a man born in San Francisco to Chinese parents could be an American citizen.—
Phaedra Trethan,
USA Today,
1 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Proof that the world, even the old, stubborn, stodgy, white golf world, could change.—
Mike Bianchi,
The Orlando Sentinel,
4 Apr. 2026
-
Against Palace last week, his 75th-minute introduction for Sesko helped speed up United’s movement down the right-hand side, unclogging a stodgy attack.—
Carl Anka,
New York Times,
10 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The play, like the movie, is loosely based on a robbery that took place in 1972, on a boiling-hot August day, when an eccentric, deep-in-debt Vietnam veteran named John Wojtowicz entered a Chase bank in Brooklyn with a gun and two accomplices, hoping for a quick score.—
Emily Nussbaum,
New Yorker,
2 Apr. 2026
-
Tickets are $15, general admission; and $10 for veterans, students, seniors, and PWD.—
Christina Mayo,
Miami Herald,
2 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Memorably dowdy fashion notwithstanding, the juicy role — part Nurse Ratched, part Jack Torrance — launched Bates into the Hollywood ether following years of false starts.—
Darren Franich,
Entertainment Weekly,
15 Mar. 2026
-
RoseMarie Terenzio, John’s hip and competent assistant, returns for a brief cameo, looking even more dowdy and ridiculous.—
Lisa DePaulo,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
For the benefit of us old fogies?—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
30 Mar. 2026
-
Now the 10% is for stubborn old fogies who refuse to change their ways and try something new.—
Chris McKeown,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
14 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Lockhart, a mathematician who taught first at Brown University and UC Santa Cruz and then for many years at Saint Ann’s, a progressive private school in Brooklyn, argues that the injury is due to our ossified K–12 mathematics curriculum.—
Dan Rockmore,
The New York Review of Books,
19 Mar. 2026
-
The collective dream was for a new, democratic structure that could replace Assad’s ossified legal regime.—
Anand Gopal,
New Yorker,
28 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Bostwick starred as the naive stick-in-the-mud and fiancé of Janice, Brad.—
Skyler Trepel,
PEOPLE,
31 Oct. 2025
-
In the Herbert Ross film, Bacon played big-city teen Ren McCormack, who moves to the small town of Bomont, where its stick-in-the-mud local minster, the Rev. Shaw Moore (John Lithgow), has instituted a ban on dancing.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
9 Nov. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Fuddy-duddy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fuddy-duddy. Accessed 7 Apr. 2026.
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