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staid - 7 dictionary results

staid

  [steyd] ,
Use staid in a Sentence
–adjective
1. of settled or sedate character; not flighty or capricious.
2. fixed, settled, or permanent.
–verb
3. Archaic. a pt. and pp. of stay 1 .
Origin:
1535–45 for adj. use

Related forms:
staidly, adverb
staidness, noun

Synonyms:
1. proper, serious, decorous, solemn. Staid, sedate, settled indicate a sober and composed type of conduct. Staid indicates an ingrained seriousness and propriety that shows itself in complete decorum; a colorless kind of correctness is indicated: a staid and uninteresting family. Sedate applies to one who is noticeably quiet, composed, and sober in conduct: a sedate and dignified young man. One who is settled has become fixed, esp. in a sober or determined way, in manner, judgments, or mode of life: He is young to be so settled in his ways.

Antonyms:
1. wild, frivolous.

stay

1  [stey] ,verb, stayed or staid, stay⋅ing, noun
–verb (used without object)
1. to spend some time in a place, in a situation, with a person or group, etc.: He stayed in the army for ten years.
2. to continue to be as specified, as to condition or state: to stay clean.
3. to hold out or endure, as in a contest or task (fol. by with or at): Please stay with the project as long as you can.
4. to keep up, as with a competitor (fol. by with).
5. Poker. to continue in a hand by matching an ante, bet, or raise.
6. to stop or halt.
7. to pause or wait, as for a moment, before proceeding or continuing; linger or tarry.
8. Archaic. to cease or desist.
9. Archaic. to stand firm.
–verb (used with object)
10. to stop or halt.
11. to hold back, detain, or restrain, as from going further.
12. to suspend or delay (actions, proceedings, etc.).
13. to appease or satisfy temporarily the cravings of (the stomach, appetite, etc.).
14. to remain through or during (a period of time): We stayed two days in San Francisco.
15. to remain to the end of; remain beyond (usually fol. by out).
16. Archaic. to await.
–noun
17. the act of stopping or being stopped.
18. a stop, halt, or pause; a standstill.
19. a sojourn or temporary residence: a week's stay in Miami.
20. Law. a stoppage or arrest of action; suspension of a judicial proceeding: The governor granted a stay of execution.
21. Informal. staying power; endurance.
—Idiom
22. stay the course, to persevere; endure to completion.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME staien < AF estaier, OF estai-, s. of ester < L stāre to stand

stay

2  [stey] ,noun, verb, stayed, stay⋅ing.
–noun
1. something used to support or steady a thing; prop; brace.
2. a flat strip of steel, plastic, etc., used esp. for stiffening corsets, collars, etc.
3. a long rod running between opposite walls, heads or sides of a furnace, boiler, tank, or the like, to strengthen them against internal pressures.
4. stays, Chiefly British. a corset.
–verb (used with object)
5. to support, prop, or hold up (sometimes fol. by up).
6. to sustain or strengthen mentally or spiritually.
7. to rest on (something, as a foundation or base) for support.
8. to cause something to become fixed or to rest on (a support, foundation, base, etc.)
Origin:
1505–15; appar. same as stay 3 (cf. OF estayer to hold in place, support, perh. deriv. of ME steye stay 3 )

stay

3  [stey] noun, verb, stayed, stay⋅ing. Chiefly Nautical
–noun
1. any of various strong ropes or wires for steadying masts, funnels, etc.
–verb (used with object)
2. to support or secure with a stay or stays: to stay a mast.
3. to put (a ship) on the other tack.
–verb (used without object)
4. (of a ship) to change to the other tack.
—Idiom
5. in stays, (of a fore-and-aft-rigged vessel) heading into the wind with sails shaking, as in coming about.
Origin:
bef. 1150; ME stey(e), OE stæg; c. G Stag
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To staid
staid   (stād)   
adj.  
  1. Characterized by sedate dignity and often a strait-laced sense of propriety; sober. See Synonyms at serious.
  2. Fixed; permanent: "There is nothing settled, nothing staid in this universe" (Virginia Woolf).

[From obsolete staid, past participle of stay1.]
staid'ly adv., staid'ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Staid

Staid\, a. [From Stay to stop.] Sober; grave; steady; sedate; composed; regular; not wild, volatile, or fanciful. "Sober and staid persons." --Addison.

O'erlaid with black, staid Wisdom's hue. --Milton.

Syn: Sober; grave; steady; steadfast; composed; regular; sedate.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : staid
Italian: posato, serio,
German: seriös,
Japanese: 落ち着いた
More Translations »

staid 
1541, "fixed, permanent," adj. use of stayed, pp. of stay (v.). Meaning "sober, sedate" first recorded 1557.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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