buttoned-up
Adjective
Conservative.
Usage- Figurative
Carefully planned and executed.
Usage- Figurative
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see button up.
- Examples
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A short, stout, puffed-up little man in a high pot-hat and a buttoned-up frock-coat and a chest-protector beard was sitting up behind a stump[.]
More examples (1)
It should be obvious by now that most of what goes on in the Bulova commercial does not depend very much on an appeal to the rational part of the mind—the “logos” of Aristotle. If it were to depend on such an appeal to the reason, it might show the same woman, but dressed sensibly in a nice buttoned-up dress and wearing her glasses.
Adjective
(British colloquial) not inclined to conversation
conservative in professional manner
- Examples
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employers are looking for buttoned-up types
Word forms
more buttoned-upmost buttoned-upbuttoned up