Stodgiest

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Exhibiting the greatest degree of dullness or old-fashioned style among a group or category
2. Showing the highest level of conventionality or lack of excitement compared to others
3. Displaying the maximum extent of boring, outdated, or unadventurous characteristics

Etymology: Stodgiest is simply the superlative of "stodgy," so its story is really the story of its base word. That base word's origin is uncertain. One possibility is that it grew out of "stodge," a verb meaning to stuff or cram, which in turn may be linked to a dialect word "stog." Another possibility is that it is a blend of "stuffy" and "podgy," a mix that would suit the picture of something heavy, overfilled and short on life. Either way, the sense of the word moved from the physical to the figurative. A stodgy meal is one that sits heavily in the stomach, and a stodgy person or style is one that feels similarly weighed down, dense and slow to move. The superlative pushes that quality to its limit, describing the most stuffed-full and least lively example of the type.

Synonyms: dullest, heaviest

Antonyms: most exciting, lightest