buttoned-up

See also: buttoned up

English

Alternative forms

• buttoned up

Adjective

buttoned-up (comparative more buttoned-up, superlative most buttoned-up)

1. (figurative) Conservative.
2. (figurative) Carefully planned and executed.
3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see button up.
   • 1989, William H[enry] Roen, “The Words of My Mouth”, in The Inward Ear: A Sermon Evaluation Method for Preachers and Hearers of the Word, Washington, D.C.: The Alban Institute, Inc., →LCCN, →OCLC, page 7:

     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.

References

• “buttoned-up, adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.