The Only Use of
staid
in
The Great Gatsby
- Instead of rambling, this party had preserved a dignified homogeneity, and assumed to itself the function of representing the staid nobility of the country-side — East Egg condescending to West Egg, and carefully on guard against its spectroscopic gayety.†
p. 44.9
Definitions:
-
(1)
(staid) respectable or conservative, and low-keyed in behavior -- possibly a bit dull
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
In older English novels by such authors as Charles Dickens or Jane Austen, you will also encounter staid as an alternative spelling of stayed (past tense of stay).