FUDDY-DUDDY


Meaning of FUDDY-DUDDY in English

I. ˈfədēˌdədē, ˈfədiˌdədi, ˌ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ˈ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ noun

( -es )

Etymology: perhaps reduplication of Scots fuddy, fuddie tail of an animal, short-tailed animal, from fud buttocks, tail of an animal + English -y

1. : one who is old-fashioned or ultraconservative : fogy

anybody over thirty has to … ask himself just how much of a fuddy-duddy he really is — Alistair Cooke

2. : one who is pompous and unimaginative : stuffed shirt

the general impression … that anyone from a colonel up is a frozen-faced fuddy-duddy — Fletcher Pratt

3. : one who is concerned about trifles : fussbudget

an academic fuddy-duddy counting the semicolons — S.E.Hyman

II. adjective

1. : prim and conservative : fussy

a fuddy-duddy professor in a classroom of rowdy boys — Time

2. : old-fashioned , outdated

the atom bomb is already fuddy-duddy — Ellery Queen

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.