stilt·ed

[stil-tid]
adjective
1.
stiffly dignified or formal, as speech or literary style; pompous.
2.
Architecture. (of an arch) resting on imposts treated in part as downward continuations of the arch.

Origin:
1610–20; stilt + -ed3

un·stilt·ed, adjective


1. wooden, mannered, stuffy, constrained.
Dictionary.com Unabridged

stilt

[stilt]
noun
1.
one of two poles, each with a support for the foot at some distance above the bottom end, enabling the wearer to walk with his or her feet above the ground.
2.
one of several posts supporting a structure built above the surface of land or water.
3.
Ceramics. a three-armed support for an object being fired.
4.
any of several white-and-black wading birds, especially Cladorhynchus leucocephalus and Himantopus himantopus, having long, bright pink legs and a long, slender black bill.
5.
British Dialect.
a.
a plow handle.
b.
a crutch.
verb (used with object)
6.
to raise on or as if on stilts.

Origin:
1275–1325; Middle English stilte; cognate with Low German stilte pole, German Stelze

stilt·like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To stilted
00:10
Stilted is always a great word to know.
So is dome. Does it mean:
a vault with a circular plan and usually in the form of a portion of a sphere
a projecting element of a fa?ade, used especially at the center or at each end and usually treated so as to suggest a tower
Collins
World English Dictionary
stilt (stɪlt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
1.  either of a pair of two long poles with footrests on which a person stands and walks, as used by circus clowns
2.  a long post or column that is used with others to support a building above ground level
3.  any of several shore birds of the genera Himantopus and Cladorhynchus, similar to the avocets but having a straight bill
 
vb
4.  (tr) to raise or place on or as if on stilts
 
[C14 (in the sense: crutch, handle of a plough): related to Low German stilte pole, Norwegian stilta]

stilted (ˈstɪltɪd) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
adj
1.  (of speech, writing, etc) formal, pompous, or bombastic
2.  not flowing continuously or naturally: stilted conversation
3.  architect (of an arch) having vertical piers between the impost and the springing
 
'stiltedly
 
adv
 
'stiltedness
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

stilt
c.1320, "a crutch," from P.Gmc. *steltijon (cf. M.L.G., M.Du. stelte "stilt," O.H.G. stelza "plow handle, crutch"), from PIE *stel- "to put, stand, place, cause to stand" (see stall (1)). Application to "wooden poles for walking across marshy ground, etc." is from c.1440.
Meaning "one of the posts on which a building is raised from the ground" is first attested 1697. Stilted in the fig. sense of "pompous, stuffy" is first recorded 1820.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
Some of the episodes may strike you as a bit artificial or contrived, as often
  the stilted behavior of self-conscious rustics is.
Her plot, while serviceable, is slightly stilted due to the constraints of
  trying to tie in the game.
Moreover, stilted writing has long been part of the culture of bureaucracy.
Note awkward body language, stilted movements, and annoying verbal tics.
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