wooden

adjective

wood·en | \ ˈwu̇-dᵊn

Definition of wooden

1 : made or consisting of wood

2 : lacking ease or flexibility : awkwardly stiff a wooden speech a wooden performer

Other Words from wooden Synonyms & Antonyms Did You Know? More Example Sentences Learn More about wooden

Keep scrolling for more

Did You Know?

Humans have been making objects out of wood since before there even was an English language, but the adjectival use of "wood" didn't come into being until the 14th century, and "wooden" didn't appear until the 16th. (The word wood has ancient roots, but it originally existed only as a noun.) In Middle English, the adjective of choice was "tree" or "treen," as in a "tree vessel" or "treen shoes." "Treen" in turn came from the Old English word trēowen, from the noun "trēow" ("tree") and the suffix -en, which was used to indicate that something was composed of a certain material. As far as we know, no one ever used "treen" figuratively to describe things that are stiff as a board, but "wooden" was put to broader use soon after it was first recorded.

Examples of wooden in a Sentence

The guest speaker was wooden and uninspiring. a movie with wooden dialogue

Recent Examples on the Web

According to David Melesko, director of leisure services for the town, the Pershing Park pavilion has been cleaned and painted, and a wooden guard rail fence and gate has been installed at a cost of about $6,600. — Steven Goode, courant.com, "Bloomfield neighborhood watchdog flips on group he campaigned for two years ago," 27 Aug. 2019 The small wooden dance floor is scuffed dark and shiny as if it were carved from black onyx. — Roger Naylor, azcentral, "Floating tiki bar, haunted pub crawl: 10 places for end-of-summer road trips in Arizona," 14 Aug. 2019 Inside the Phenix, the wooden floors were scratched and worn. — Emily Witt, The New Yorker, "Marianne Williamson Wants Politics to Enter the New Age," 14 Aug. 2019 Nate ends up having a total meltdown, at one point even smashing head head against the wooden floor. — Jasmine Gomez, Seventeen, "Jacob Elordi Got An IRL Concussion After Filming That “Euphoria” Season Finale Scene," 7 Aug. 2019 Planning Commission Vice Chairman Jeff Arona asked Lane why a wooden fence was chosen. — Brian Lisik, cleveland.com, "Winking Lizard banquet room in Brunswick to be converted into ‘Lizardville’," 6 Aug. 2019 According to Tereault, the driver attempted to back her vehicle out of her driveway on 48 Weymouth St., but instead lost control of her vehicle, crossed the street, ran through a wooden fence between two homes, and fell into the pool. — Mike Kotsopoulos, BostonGlobe.com, "Springfield woman crashes car into neighbor’s swimming pool," 28 July 2019 In the front, on a small section of wooden fence, the club painted some of the life skills the value. — Catalina Righter, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, "Bringing the '4-H family’ back together: Clubs team up in preparation for Carroll County fair," 25 July 2019 Even hundreds of yards away, behind a wooden fence, the elk were a marvel to behold. — Vanessa Hua, SFChronicle.com, "In praise of road trips for family vacations," 25 July 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'wooden.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Keep scrolling for more

More Definitions for wooden

wooden

adjective

English Language Learners Definition of wooden

: made of wood

: awkward or stiff : not having or showing any emotion, energy, etc.

See the full definition for wooden in the English Language Learners Dictionary

wooden

adjective

wood·en | \ ˈwu̇-dᵊn

Kids Definition of wooden

1 : made of wood

2 : lacking spirit, ease, or charm a wooden manner

Keep scrolling for more

wooden

Definition of wooden

Other Words from wooden

Synonyms & Antonyms for wooden

Did You Know?

Examples of wooden in a Sentence

First Known Use of wooden

English Language Learners Definition of wooden

Kids Definition of wooden

wooden

Definition of wooden

Other Words from wooden

Synonyms & Antonyms for wooden

Did You Know?

Examples of wooden in a Sentence

First Known Use of wooden

English Language Learners Definition of wooden

Kids Definition of wooden

WORD OF THE DAY