STUFFED SHIRT

We might describe someone as a “stuffed shirt” if they are excessively formal, pompous or old-fashioned.

 Examples:

 “Instead, Isabel reluctantly marries a stuffed shirt named Wilbur Minafer.”

 “This is the film that made Marlene Dietrich an international star, prancing around in ruffled knickers and bewitching stuffed-shirt professor Emil Jannings.”

 “Did Elizabeth Bennet move into Pemberley and discover that her prejudice and her pride were well founded when Mr. Darcy turned out to be a stuffed shirt with anger-management issues?”


 The phrase apparently originated around 1900 [1] and refers to a dummy in a dress shirt in a menswear store, which appears pompous and is also hollow [2].


 Photo credit: Hemeroteca Digital | Old magazines & newspapers | Portugal’s photostream (Creative Commons)

 [1] “stuffed shirt” in The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, by Christine Ammer. 2nd ed. Houghton Mifflin, 2013.

 [2] “stuff” in Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by Susie Dent. 19th ed. Chambers Harrap, 2012.