fuddy-duddyn.
/ˈfʌdɪˌdʌdi/, U.S. /ˈfədiˌdədi/ slang.
An old-fashioned person; an ineffectual old fogy. Also attributive or as adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupid, foolish, or inadequate person > foolish person, fool > [noun] > age-related
dodo1886
fuddy-duddy1904
fuddydud1914
1899 E. W. Prevost Dickinson's Gloss. Words & Phrases Cumberland (new ed.) 106/2 Duddy fuddiel, a ragged fellow.]
1904 in H. Wentworth Amer. Dial. Dict. (1944) 236/2.
1907 Dial. Notes 3 244 Fuddy-duddy, n. and adj.
1938 D. Moffat Mott Family in France xvii. 191 Mr. Mott wandered along the Promenade..looking at the damned old fuddy-duddies who cluttered it up.
1940 Harper's Dec. 1 a A great many people..believe its [American army] officer class is caste-ridden and fuddy-duddy.
1951 ‘N. Shute’ Round Bend 310 People may call the Sheikh of Khulal an old fuddy-duddy, but he's an important man in these parts.
1957 Times 23 Aug. 9/4 What was once called prudish and is now sneered at as being ‘fuddy-duddy’.
1958 Observer 23 Mar. 14/4 Deserted country-house with fuddy-duddy owner.
1964 L. Nkosi Rhythm of Violence ii. ii. 30 Some priests can be..more militant than some fuddy-duddies who pass as politicians!
1970 D. Balsdon Oxf. Then & Now 134 So much for ‘a straight run to the grave’. How fuddy-duddy they all were.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1972; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1904