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) 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).