wooden

[ wood-n ]

adjective

1. consisting or made of wood; wood:

   a wooden ship.

2. stiff, ungainly, or awkward:

   a wooden gait.

3. without spirit, animation, or awareness.

   Synonyms: expressionless, impassive, lifeless, vacant

4. dull or stupid.
5. indicating the fifth event of a series, as a wedding anniversary.

wooden

/ ˈwʊdən /

adjective

1. made from or consisting of wood
2. awkward or clumsy
3. bereft of spirit or animation

   a wooden expression

4. obstinately unyielding

   a wooden attitude

5. mentally slow or dull
6. not highly resonant

   a wooden thud

verb

1. slang.
   tr to fell or kill (a person or animal)

Derived Forms

• ˈwoodenly, adverb
• ˈwoodenness, noun

Other Words From

• wooden·ly adverb
• wooden·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of wooden¹

First recorded in 1530–40; wood ¹ + -en ²

Example Sentences

Members were called at random to approach a polished wooden box holding numbered chips that determined the order in which they would get to choose an available office suite.

From Los Angeles Times

Part of what made Neanderthals such effective hunters was their use of tar to attach sharp stone tools to the tips of wooden spears.

From Science Magazine

The court heard Irwin was handed a suspended prison sentence late last year for repeatedly hitting Miss Render with a wooden rolling pin, and slapping and strangling her.

From BBC

And cracked it is, a fine web of fractures disrupting the once soft and seamless surface — inevitable in an oil painting on wooden panel of its ancient age.

From Los Angeles Times

On the morning the Mountain fire erupted, wind gusts were so strong in Somis that several of the sturdy wooden boxes that housed Eduardo Flores’s bee colonies had already blown over.

From Los Angeles Times