stiltyadj.
/ˈstɪlti/ 1. Resembling stilts; esp. in Horse Racing slang, said of a horse's legs when long and stiff in action.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > body or parts of horse > [adjective] > of the legs
hosedc1721
stilty1826
1826 [implied in: Sporting Mag. 18 382 Many [horses], owing to the severity of their training on hard ground, shewed stiltiness in their action. (at stiltiness n.)].
1828 Edinb. Rev. 47 433 The solemn and stilty tread of the Athenian buskin.
1863 Sporting Mag. Sept. 230 The odds on him were speedily reduced..for he turned out to be one of the stilty sort, with a pair of awful fore-legs.
2. figurative. = stiltish adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > affected behaviour or affectation > [adjective]
streiche?a1513
fustian1523
nipping1568
fashionative1584
affected1598
affectate1599
affecting1600
snufflinga1640
whalebone1801
stiltish1824
stilty1845
posturing1851
greenery-yallery1881
mee-mawing1886
meemaw1898
faisandé1912
twee1956
nerdy1960
pseud1962
pseudo1964
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > ornateness > [adjective] > laboured or pedantic
tricked1549
pedantical1592
laboured1613
pedantic1631
laborious1657
stiff1664
long-nebbed1818
stiltified1820
stiltish1824
overwrought1839
uncolloquial1840
stilty1845
Ollendorffian1848
literose1859
stilted1874
Hisperic1904
1845 W. B. S. Taylor Hist. Univ. Dublin 339 The stilty dignity which is to be found in some other places.
1846 J. E. Worcester Universal Dict. Eng. Lang. (citing Q. Rev.).
1873 W. Wagner tr. W. S. Teuffel Hist. Rom. Lit. II. 159 His stilty tone and artificial conciseness.
1889 F. E. Gretton Memory's Harkback 317 Macready..I once accidentally met..at dinner... I remember..my impression of him as stilty.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1917; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
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adj.1826