stick-in-the-mud

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Related to stick-in-the-mud: muddy up

stick-in-the-mud

(stĭk′ĭn-thə-mŭd′)

n. pl. stick-in-the-muds Informal

One who lacks initiative, imagination, or enthusiasm.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

stick-in-the-mud

informal a staid or predictably conservative person who lacks initiative or imagination

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

stick′-in-the-mud`

an old fogy.

[1725–35]

stick-in-the-mud

- Based on the notion of "to stick in the mud, to be content to remain in an abject condition."

stick-in-the-mud

noun (Informal) (old) fogey, conservative, reactionary, stick (informal), dinosaur, die-hard, fuddy-duddy (informal), Colonel Blimp, sobersides a stick-in-the-mud who prefers the old, tried and tested methods

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

stick-in-the-mud

noun

Informal. An old-fashioned person who is reluctant to change or innovate:

fogy, fossil, fuddy-duddy, mossback.

Slang: square.

Translations

stick-in-the-mud

(inf)

n → Muffel m (inf)

adj → rückständig; parents etc also → muffelig (inf)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

stick-in-the-mud

[ˈstɪkɪnðəˌmʌd] n (fam) → retrogrado/a

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

stick¹

(stik) – past tense, past participle stuck (stak) – verb

1. to push (something sharp or pointed) into or through something. She stuck a pin through the papers to hold them together; Stop sticking your elbow into me!

2. (of something pointed) to be pushed into or through something. Two arrows were sticking in his back.

3. to fasten or be fastened (by glue, gum etc). He licked the flap of the envelope and stuck it down; These labels don't stick very well; He stuck (the broken pieces of) the vase together again; His brothers used to call him Bonzo and the name has stuck.

4. to (cause to) become fixed and unable to move or progress. The car stuck in the mud; The cupboard door has stuck; I'll help you with your arithmetic if you're stuck.

ˈsticker noun

an adhesive label or sign bearing eg a design, political message etc, for sticking eg on a car's window etc. The car sticker read `Blood donors needed'.

ˈsticky adjective

1. able, or likely, to stick or adhere to other surfaces. He mended the torn book with sticky tape; sticky sweets.

2. (of a situation or person) difficult; awkward.

ˈstickily adverb

ˈstickiness noun

sticking-plasterplasterˈstick-in-the-mud noun

a person who never does anything new.

come to a sticky end

to have an unpleasant fate or death.

stick at

to persevere with (work etc). He must learn to stick at his job.

stick by

to support or be loyal to (a person). His friends stuck by him when he was in trouble.

stick it out

to endure a situation for as long as necessary.

stick out

1. to (cause to) project; His front teeth stick out; He stuck out his tongue.

2. to be noticeable. She has red hair that sticks out in a crowd.

stick one's neck out

to take a risk.

stick to/with

not to abandon. We've decided to stick to our previous plan; If you stick to me, I'll stick to you.

stick together

1. to (cause to) be fastened together. We'll stick the pieces together; The rice is sticking together.

2. (of friends etc) to remain loyal to each other. They've stuck together all these years.

stick up for

to speak in defence of (a person etc). When my father is angry with me, my mother always sticks up for me.

References in classic literature ?

They're stick-in-the-muds. I'll gobble them up and deliver the right article to the city.

View in context

* A dull, stubborn person is called a "stick-in-the-mud."

Jump in the mud bud!

These festival-goers came prepared with a dinghy; I'm such a stick-in-the-mud it's no wonder I've got no friends...; Burger this for a day in the country; Anyone for a knickerbocker glory?; AND THE REST OF BRITAIN WASN'T MUCH BETTER Holidaymakers take to the water on Bournemouth beach...

Noun	1.	stick-in-the-mud - someone who moves slowly; "in England they call a slowpoke a slowcoach" slowcoach, slowpoke, plodder dawdler, laggard, lagger, trailer, poke, drone - someone who takes more time than necessary; someone who lags behind
Adj.	1.	stick-in-the-mud - (used pejoratively) out of fashion; old fashioned; "moss-grown ideas about family life" fogyish, moss-grown, mossy, stodgy unfashionable, unstylish - not in accord with or not following current fashion; "unfashionable clothes"; "melodrama of a now unfashionable kind"

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