Both Uses of
staid
in
Jane Eyre
- Her appearance always acted as a damper to the curiosity raised by her oral oddities: hard-featured and staid, she had no point to which interest could attach.†
p. 130.5 *
- There she sat, staid and taciturn-looking, as usual, in her brown stuff gown, her check apron, white handkerchief, and cap.†
p. 179.0
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).