Stolid

Posted on | May 14, 2009 | No Comments

What a strange word.

Root: Obsolete French, stolide, or Latin stolidus, perhaps meaning foolish.

Definition: Calm, dependable. One who shows little emotion, doesn’t get animated.

Examples:

1. Contrary to the typical rock star performance, Roy Orbison’s on-stage persona was extraordinarily stolid.
2. The Indian bureaucracy remains terribly inefficient and stolid, taking over 200 days to issue a company license.

twj says:

“Stolid, stolid as a rock… oooohhh”, isn’t what Ashford & Simpson sang, but it might be more fitting, seeing as I’d describe your average rock as calm, dependable, and showing little in the way of emotion or animation.

It’s a bizzare word though, like solid gone wrong. Reminds me of stoic and stalwart. And the Soviet Union. Hmmm. “Everybody knew Ilya was a stolid, stoic stalwart for the Party.”

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