| 释义 |
stuffy, a.|ˈstʌfɪ|
[f. stuff n.1 + -y.]
†1. Full of stuff or substance. lit. and fig. Obs.
1551–2Act 5 & 6 Edw. VI, c. 6 §3 The good perfecte and stuffy makinge of the same Clothe. 1611Cotgr., Substantieux, substantiall, stuffie. 1620T. Granger Div. Logike 69 By amplifications, and illustrations an oration is made stuffie, and fatted. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. v. xviii. (1652) 479 A mighty fire was made, and..(as if that pure Element of it self had been too fine and slender effectually to torment him) they made the flame more stiffe and stuffie, by the mixture of pitch and brimstone. a1656Vines Lord's-Supp. v. (1657) 64 This Sacrament of the Gospel is an after Supper modicum, full of spiritual signification, but not so stuffie for outward matter, that [etc.]. 1667W. Cavendish New Meth. Dressing Horses 62 They..are to be Short from the Head to the Croup, and Stuffy.
2. a. Of a room, building, etc.: Ill-ventilated, close. Of the air: Wanting in freshness, oppressive to the lungs and head. Of persons: Addicted to living in stuffy conditions.
1831Lady Granville Lett. 21 Feb. (1894) II. 89 In the evening I shall have a stuffy drum. 1853Lytton My Novel v. xi, I do believe the English are the stuffiest people! Look at their four-post bedsteads!..not a house with a ventilator! 1855E. Forbes Lit. Papers vii. 190 He remains too long in the thick and stuffy atmosphere of town clubs and libraries. 1888Mrs. H. Ward R. Elsmere I. i. 10, I don't like stuffy cottages. 1904F. Lynde Grafters ii. 14 The stuffy little law office which had been his father's.
b. transf. Lacking in freshness, interest, or smartness.
1813Jane Austen Pride & Prej. I. xvi. 173 They were superior to the broad-faced stuffy uncle Philips, breathing port wine, who followed them into the room. 1843Froude Nemesis of Faith ii, Do not write me cold stuffy letters about my state of mind. 1900C. J. C. Hyne Filibusters xxii. 318 In the waist below us, that stuffy little person the owner of the Clarindella was shedding tears of joy as his eyes gloated over his re-found treasure. 1904[C'tess. Arnim] Adv. Eliz. in Rügen 132 In that sun-flecked place..how could I be seriously interested in stuffy indoor questions such as the equality of the sexes? 1909Mrs. H. Ward Daphne iii. 56 Listening to a stuffy debate in the Senate.
3. a. Of persons: Affected with a sensation of stoppage or obstruction in the organs of breathing, Said also of the sensation.
1847F. A. Kemble Later Life III. 290 If you are old and stiff, I am fat, stuffy, puffy, and old. 1871C. Gibbon Lack of Gold xviii, Her head was stuffed, her nose was stuffed, and she felt altogether ‘stuffy’ and uncomfortable. 1898Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 287 At two or three in the morning he suddenly awakes with a stuffy feeling in his chest.
b. Of the voice: Muffled.
1889Harper's Mag. Sept. 548/2 Her own stuffy voice, interspersed with the familiar coughs and gasps.
4. U.S. colloq. Angry, sulky.
1825J. Neal Bro. Jonathan I. 106 Don't care for you,..with all your stuffy looks. 1898Kipling Fleet in Being vi. 77 They never growl at us or get stuffy.
5. Prim, formal, strait-laced, pompous; boring, conventional.
1895Kipling Day's Work (1898) 181 ‘You might have come to me to begin with,’ said Scott stiffly... ‘Well, you need't be stuffy about it.’ 1904E. Nesbit Phoenix & Carpet i. 11 It's awfully stuffy for a chap not to be allowed out in the evenings. 1922J. Cannan Misty Valley xv. 245 Cousin Innes was very stuffy about it when you got engaged. But all we wanted was for you to be happy, Claire. 1948E. Waugh Let. 24 Nov. (1980) 293, I went to one stuffy upper class dinner party on my first night & I go to another tonight. 1965Listener 16 Sept. 418/2 Some of them have grasped the BBC's main dilemma, which is that it ought..to be in the widest, not in any ‘stuffy’ sense, an instrument of culture and education. 1979R. Jaffe Class Reunion (1980) i. ii. 34 Every man I meet wants to go into business. They're all so stuffy. |