Make Your Point: STAID

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pronounce STAID:

STAYED

connect this word to others:

My daughter, who's in fourth grade now, occasionally brings home a list of vocab words to study. Her most recent list included the formal, sophisticated word staid, which surprised me, since it came alongside much more basic terms like awry, shamble, and furrow. Naturally I created a page for her on Make Your Point, Jr. so that she could learn more about the word staid.

And it's a great word!

Let's start exploring it by summoning up some synonyms. Something staid might also be called sober, somber, solemn, settled, restrained, no-nonsense, dec__ous ("behaving in a polite, proper way"), or maybe even Gr___yish (" overly proper in a narrow-minded way"). Can you recall those last two?

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

Back in the 1500s, spelling was a messy business. As people would write about things that stayed the same, they sometimes spelled "stayed" as "staid," which then became its own word meaning "staying the same: fixed in place, never changing."

By the 1800s, "staid" was well-established in English print. We use it to describe things or people that are staying the same in a boring, unexciting way.

In other words, staid people and things are calm and steady, but also boring and serious.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Adjective: "a staid haircut," "a staid classroom."

Other forms:

Staidly, staidness.

how to use it:

Pick the serious, mildly insulting word "staid" to emphasize how dull, boring, normal, standard, and unexciting something is.

You might talk about staid people, attitudes, clothing, hairstyles, décor, buildings, activities, places, situations, or practices: "a staid kitchen," "a staid courtroom," "this staid practice of addressing store-bought Valentines to every classmate, no matter how indifferent you feel toward them."

examples:

"He wore impeccable three-piece Brooks Brothers suits, Bostonian loafers, and staid horn-rimmed glasses, and he knew the law."
— John Nichols, The Milagro Beanfield War, 1974

"‘One Day at a Time:' This reimagining of the 1970s comedy revived a staid genre — the socially conscious, three-camera family sitcom — by updating the characters and their problems."
— James Poniewozik, Mike Hale and Margaret Lyons; New York Times; 4 December 2017

has this page helped you understand "staid"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "staid" without saying "dull" or "unexciting."

try it out:

Fill in the blanks: "As a kid, I (dreaded or hated) those staid old (events of some kind), because all I did there was (something really quiet and boring)."

Example: "As a kid, I dreaded those staid old Sunday School classes, because all I did there was sit quietly in an itchy dress and fill out worksheets."

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for April is "Interpret the Titles: Tim Curry Edition!"

Are you a fan of Tim Curry? (How could anyone not be?) Did you know his birthday is in April? I didn't until I looked it up, but it’s the perfect excuse to base this month's game on his filmography.

I'll give you the title of some show, movie, or video game that Tim Curry has starred in, along with a summary, and I'll challenge you to interpret the title in three different ways.

To see some examples, and some tips if you get stuck, head here!

Try this one today: "Psych" was a TV show running from 2006-2014; in 2007 it featured Tim Curry as Nigel St. Nigel, a celebrity judge on a reality show. According to IMDb, on the show, "Shawn Spencer makes his living pretending to be [psychic]. Shawn and his best friend Gus own a business called Psych. They are able to stay in business only because they work with the Santa Barbara Police Department as psychics. Shawn and Gus go through many ups and downs trying to keep the ruse up. Can they pretend forever? Or is the world they built going to come crumbling down?"

1. It's titled "Psych" because... ?

2. It's titled "Psych" because... ?

3. It's titled "Psych" because... ?

To see some possible answers, scroll all the way down!

review this word:

1. The most precise opposite of STAID (besides UNSTAID) is

A. TEMPERATE: calm and mild.
B. VIBRANT: full of life and motion.
C. EPHEMERAL: lasting only a short time.

2. In a novel, the word "staid" is most likely to describe _____.

A. cranberry juice or lemonade
B. gray suits or sensible shoes
C. young children or Caribbean drumbeats

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
  36 ways to study words.
  Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
  How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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Make Your Point > Archived Issues > STAID

See this issue on Make Your Point, Jr.

Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.