Sturdy Meaning

/ˈstɜːdi/
B2

Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

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adjOf firm build; stiff; stout; strong.

adjSolid in structure or person.

This is a very sturdy chair to sit in.
Take this chair. It's sturdy.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The old wooden table was surprisingly ____ and could hold many heavy books.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The hikers needed a pair of ____ boots to navigate the rocky and uneven terrain of the mountain path.

From Middle English sturdy, stourdy, stordy (“bold, valiant, strong, stern, fierce, rebellious”) (perhaps influenced by Middle English sture, stoure, stor (“strong, robust, harsh, stern, violent, fierce, sturdy”); see English stour), from Old French estourdi (“dazed”), form of estourdir, originally “to daze, to make tipsy (almost drunk)” (Modern French étourdir (“to daze, to make tipsy”)), from Vulgar Latin *exturdire. Latin etymology is unclear – presumably it is ex- + turdus (“thrush (bird)”), but how this should mean “daze” is unclear. A speculative theory is that thrushes eat leftover winery grapes and thus became drunk, but this meets with objections. Disease in cows and sheep is by extension of sense of “daze”, while sense of “strongly built” is of late 14th century, and relationship to earlier sense is less clear, perhaps from sense of a firm strike (causing a daze) or a strong, violent person.

"He was not of any delicate contexture; his limbs rather sturdy then dainty." — 1657, Henry Wotton, Characters of some Kings of England:
"Diana’s most recent romantic adventure at that time was with the sturdy hunk Will Carling, captain of the England rugby team, whom she had met in 1995 working out at the Chelsea Harbor Club gym." — April 5 2022, Tina Brown, “How Princess Diana’s Dance With the Media Impacted William and Harry”, in Vanity Fair:
"This must be done, and I would fain see / Mortal so sturdy as to gainsay." — 1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678, →OCLC; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC, page 2:
"[A] ſturdy, hardned Sinner ſhall advance to the utmoſt pitch of Impiety with leſs difficulty, leſs reluctance of Mind, than perhaps he took the firſt ſteps in Wickedneſs, whilſt his Conſcience was yet Vigilant and Tender." — 1705 November 7 (date delivered; Gregorian calendar), Francis Atterbury, “A Standing Revelation, the Best Means of Conviction. A Sermon Preach’d before Her Majesty, at St. James’s Chapel, on Sunday, October 28. 1705, being the Festival of St. Simon and St. Jude.”, in Fourteen Sermons Preach’d on Several Occasions. […], London: […] E. P. [Edmund Parker?] for Jonah Bowyer, […], published 1708, →OCLC, page 339:

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CEFR Practice Quiz
The old wooden table was surprisingly ____ and could hold many heavy books.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The hikers needed a pair of ____ boots to navigate the rocky and uneven terrain of the mountain path.

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