Citations:starched

English citations of starched

1. Of or pertaining to a garment which has had starch applied.

   1852 Behold, then, Topsy, washed and shorn of all the little braided tails wherein her heart had delighted, arrayed in a clean gown, with well-starched apron, standing reverently before Miss Ophelia, with an expression of solemnity well befitting a funeral. — Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Chapter 20.

2. Stiff, formal, rigid; prim and proper.

   1900 She was pretty, graceful, rich in the timidity born of uncertainty, and with a something childlike in her large eyes which captured the fancy of this starched and conventional poser among men. — Theodore Dreiser, Sister Carrie, Chapter 1.