starched

Adjective

starched (comparative more starched, superlative most starched)

1. Of a garment: having had starch applied.
   • I recall the height of comfort attained by the green-cushioned "first" with starched white antimacassars and a pretentious grey floor mat on which it seemed a sacrilege to stand, as it was embellished with the North Western conception of Britannia, complete with trident.1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in Railway Magazine, pages 703-704
   • And while his signature starched collar and fingerless gloves are yet to make an appearance, his looks are already topped off with another of his soon-to-be trademarks: a pair of dark aviator sunglasses.2024 June 3, Caitlin Chatterton, “‘Becoming Karl Lagerfeld:’ A flattering sketch of a controversial designer”, in CNN
2. Stiff, formal, rigid; prim and proper.
   • Does the Gospel any where prescribe a starched squeezed Countenance, a stiff formal Gait, a Singularity of Manners and Habit, or any affected Modes of Speech, different from the reasonable Part of Mankind?1712, Jonathan Swift, “An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity”, in The Works of Jonathan Swift, volume 1, Dublin: George Faulkner, published 1751, pages 102-103
   • A cultivated understanding, and an affectionate heart, will never want starched rules of decorum—something more substantial than seemliness will be the result; and, without understanding the behaviour here recommended, would be rank affectation.1791 (date written), Mary Wollstonecraft, “Animadversions on Some of the Writers who have Rendered Women Objects of Pity, Bordering on Contempt”, in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With...