stuffed shirt


noun

a pompous, self-satisfied, and inflexible person.

Origin of stuffed shirt

An Americanism dating back to 1910–15

British Dictionary definitions for stuffed shirt

stuffed shirt

noun

informal a pompous or formal person

Idioms and Phrases with stuffed shirt

stuffed shirt

An overly formal or pompous person, as in She's such a stuffed shirt that I'm surprised you'd invite her to a barbecue. This expression alludes to a shirt filled with paper (instead of a real person). [c. 1900]