Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Wooden character or quality; stiffness; lack of spirit or expression; clumsiness; stupidity.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Quality of being wooden; clumsiness; stupidity; blockishness.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The state of being wooden.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the quality of being wooden and awkward

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

wooden +‎ -ness

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word woodenness.

Examples

  • The apathy and "woodenness" of children under average modes of pedagogy is apparent to anyone who is interested enough to observe.

    How to Tell Stories to Children, And Some Stories to Tell

  • What reader of novels has not felt the "woodenness" of this mode of telling?

    Autobiography of Anthony Trollope

  • What reader of novels has not felt the "woodenness" of this mode of telling?

    Autobiography of Anthony Trollope

  • Mr. Gryzlov, 61 years old, long embodied the woodenness and sense of entitlement of Russia's ruling party under Mr. Putin, and once famously remarked that Parliament was "no place for discussion."

    Putin Ally Resigns Russian Parliament Post

  • Even Seurat, whose famous "Sunday on the Grande Jatte" has never ceased to disappoint me because of its woodenness, is forgiven, in my eyes - for the exhibition has, instead, a number his studies, or études, for that fabled composition.

    Nigel Hamilton: Post-Impressions

  • Even Seurat, whose famous "Sunday on the Grande Jatte" has never ceased to disappoint me because of its woodenness, is forgiven, in my eyes - for the exhibition has, instead, a number his studies, or études, for that fabled composition.

    Nigel Hamilton: Post-Impressions

  • Also, do not mock my woodenness in the graduation photo--relaxed scholarly owl stance was not taught in advance!

    Catchy Tune

  • Also, do not mock my woodenness in the graduation photo--relaxed scholarly owl stance was not taught in advance!

    Catchy Tune

  • Also, do not mock my woodenness in the graduation photo--relaxed scholarly owl stance was not taught in advance!

    February 2009

  • I spent more of my time wincing at the woodenness of the prose than following the story, and without "story" a novel like Little Children has nothing.

    Film and Literature

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.