staid.

Serious, settled, and restrained in manner, often with little appetite for novelty.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• a staid institution
• a staid manner

On the page

The staid institution tolerated her new methods only after they succeeded.

A bright scarf disrupted his otherwise staid appearance.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary. Forms: Comparative more staid; superlative most staid where gradation is meaningful. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.