stolid

adj

Etymology: Etymology tree Latin stolidusder. Middle French stolideder. English stolid From Middle French stolide, from Latin stolidus (“foolish, obtuse, slow”).

1. Having or revealing little emotion or sensibility.

   “He went slowly to his tent and stretched himself on a blanket by the side of the snoring tall soldier. In the darkness he saw visions of a thousand-tongued fear that would babble at his back and cause him to flee, while others were going coolly about their country's business. He admitted that he would not be able to cope with this monster. He felt that every nerve in his body would be an ear to hear the voices, while other men would remain stolid and deaf.”

   ““A tinge of Jewish blood is not a bad thing. It leavens the”—she looked at him—“stolid stupidity of the ordinary Englishman.””

2. Dully or heavily stupid.

   “Light laughs the breeze / In her Castle above them — / Babbles the Bee in a stolid Ear, / Pipe the Sweet Birds in ignorant cadence — / Ah, what sagacity perished here!”

   “They (Eloi) all failed to understand my gestures; some were simply stolid, some thought it was a jest and laughed at me.”