mossbackedadj.n.
/ˈmɒsbakt/, U.S. /ˈmɔsˌbækt/, /ˈmɑsˌbækt/ colloquial (originally and chiefly U.S.).
That is a mossback; old-fashioned, reactionary, inflexibly conservative. Also as n. with the. Cf. mossy-backed adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > absence of change, changelessness > maintaining state or condition > [adjective] > opposed to change
Tory1651
unprogressive1722
conservative1802
old-line1803
improgressive1809
old school1816
conservatory1822
conservatist1835
unmarching1837
mossbacked1876
mossy1904
passéist1914
pastist1921
Luddite1957
the world > time > relative time > the past > oldness or ancientness > [adjective] > old-fashioned or antiquated > of persons, views, etc.
old-fashioned1596
musty1603
mildewed1605
fusty1609
wormy1611
frumpy1746
fossila1770
arriéré1814
has-been1819
Rip Van Winkleish1829
frumpish1847
archaistic1850
fogey1852
fogeyish1852
old fogeyish1853
rusty-fusty1864
mossbacked1876
dead-handed1928
Victorian1934
unhep1939
unhip1939
dinosaurian1943
square1946
dinosaur-like1947
dinosauric1977
analogue1993
1876 Decatur (Illinois) Republican 14 Dec. 4/2 Never again will the unterrified, unwashed, mossbacked, rock-rooted and hill-buttressed rally under thy name.
1889 ‘M. Twain’ Lett. (1917) II. 520 Still mouthing empty reverence for those moss-backed frauds.
1900 Speaker 17 Mar. 644/1 A few malcontents and mossbacked mugwumps.
1963 Economist 7 Sept. 826/1 Bankers..found themselves looking hopelessly moss-backed.
1975 G. V. Higgins City on Hill vi. 148 He's mossbacked and close to a fascist, but he's perfectly sincere.
1991 P. J. O'Rourke Parl. of Whores (1992) 23 Truly mossbacked Democrats and what few conservative political journalists there are gathered at the ARCO suite.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1876