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) 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).