staid
sedate, respectable, and unadventurous
Word origin: From an archaic past participle of stay, in the sense of steadied or fixed.
Using “staid” well
Staid means sedate, respectable, and unadventurous, suggesting a settled seriousness that can verge on dull. Do not confuse it with stayed, the past tense of stay.
More GRE words starting with S
to deliberately damage or obstruct something, especially in secret
an intensely sweet, calorie-free artificial sweetener
excessively sweet or sentimental in a cloying way
regarded as too important or sacred to be altered or criticized
having keen practical judgment and discernment
soundness of judgment and acuteness of discernment
most noticeable or important; standing out prominently
of a sickly yellowish or pale complexion
Questions about “staid”
See these words the way the GRE tests them.
Definitions in isolation do not stick. Sit a free, full-length GRE mock and meet this vocabulary inside real text completion and sentence equivalence questions, with your score and a worked solution for every answer.