Fuddy

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Having an old-fashioned or overly conventional attitude, often resistant to change or new ideas
2. Describing a person who is humorlessly set in their ways, particularly regarding social norms and behaviors
3. Characterized by an air of priggishness, often reflecting a disdain for modernity and youthful trends

Etymology: The adjective "fuddy" survives mainly as the first half of "fuddy-duddy," a reduplicated pair built on the same pattern as "higgledy-piggledy" and "hurly-burly." The rhyming doubling gives the pair its mocking, sing-song tone, and the second element, "duddy," adds no separate meaning of its own. Where the first syllable comes from is uncertain. Some suggest a link to dialect "fud," a word for a rabbit's or hare's tail, which would fit a sense of something small and insignificant, but that connection is not firmly established. Others point to "fuddle," meaning to confuse or stupefy, though the semantic and formal links are also unproven. Dictionaries generally record the pair without settling on a source for either part.

Synonyms: fuddy-duddy, old-fashioned, stodgy

Antonyms: modern, trendy, fashionable