stolid

Etymology

From Middle French stolide, from Latin stolidus (“foolish, obtuse, slow”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈstɒl.ɪd/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈstɑːl.ɪd/

Adjective

stolid (comparative stolider, superlative stolidest)

1. Having or revealing little emotion or sensibility.
   • 1857, Dickinson, Emily, "Safe in their alabaster chambers", verse 2.

     Light laughs the breeze

     In her Castle above them —

     Babbles the Bee in a stolid Ear,

     Pipe the Sweet Birds in ignorant cadence —

     Ah, what sagacity perished here!

   • 1898, H.G. Wells, The Time Machine, Chapter V ,

     They (Eloi) all failed to understand my gestures; some were simply stolid, some thought it was a jest and laughed at me.

   • 1950, Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451,

     With his symbolic helmet numbered 451 on his stolid head, and his eyes all orange flame with the thought of what came next, he flicked the igniter and the house jumped up in a gorging fire that burned the evening sky red and yellow and black.

Anagrams

• lotids