as in conservative
a person with old-fashioned ideas
the committee is dominated by old stick-in-the-muds who have little interest in bringing new ideas to the table
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Recent Examples of stick-in-the-mud
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, 9 Nov. 2023
David Corenswet plays, quite literally, a stick-in-the-mud character.
—Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
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, 9 Nov. 2023
David Corenswet plays, quite literally, a stick-in-the-mud character.
—Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stick-in-the-mud
Noun
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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
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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
Noun
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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
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Tickets are $15, general admission; and $10 for veterans, students, seniors, and PWD.—
Christina Mayo,
Miami Herald,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
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For the benefit of us old fogies?—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
30 Mar. 2026
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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
Noun
-
Perhaps the most intriguing fossils are the ones that potentially represent deuterostomes, the animal group that includes vertebrates, as well as starfish and sea urchins.—
Mindy Weisberger,
CNN Money,
4 Apr. 2026
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Completely fossil-fuel-free, Kilchoan is the number one customer of Knoydart Renewables, and has built a new water borehole and provided equipment and modern sewage-treatment plants for the area.—
Jen Murphy,
Robb Report,
4 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Stick-in-the-mud.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stick-in-the-mud. Accessed 8 Apr. 2026.
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