fuddy-duddy en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /ˈfʌdiˌdʌdi/
- (US) audio
Etymology
Unknown. First attested in the US circa 1900.
Meanings
-
(US, informal) Old-fashioned and persnickety or ineffective.
Kingsolver lives by the tenets of her public-spirited fictional characters, whom she sculpts with a keen eye for individuality, e.g. Nannie Land Rawley, a seventy-something orchardist who shocks a fuddy-duddy male neighbor by wearing shorts, […]
2015, Mary Ellen Snodgrass, Barbara Kingsolver: A Literary Companion, McFarland, →ISBN, page 4:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| fuddy-duddiest | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| fuddyduddy | alternative | lexicographic | |
| fuddy-duddier | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |