🇬🇧 Wooden meaning: English Vocabulary Flash Card

When someone is described as wooden, it means they move, talk, or act in a stiff and awkward way, almost like a puppet or a statue made of wood. Their face doesn’t show many feelings, their body doesn’t move naturally, and they might sound a bit like a robot. It’s not about being made of wood; it’s about acting as if you were wood—stiff, uncomfortable, and not very expressive.

The drama teacher said, “You’re supposed to be a crying tree,” and I said, “Good, my acting is already wooden.”

His wooden attempt at a wink looked like he had dust in one eye and regrets in the other.

She tried to act shocked in the play, but her wooden expression said, “I mildly disapprove of this situation.”

When I tried to flirt, my wooden compliment sounded like I was reading the instructions on shampoo.

The dance teacher said my wooden moves made the robot look graceful.

At the small kitchen table, he opened the letter. His wooden face barely changed; his wooden voice read the lines like a machine. His wooden hands folded the paper, his wooden laugh caught in his throat. The child set down a warm mug; the wooden mask softened, and a real smile came.

This word is at the C2 level, which means it represents the highest mastery of English. It’s often used in specialized or highly formal contexts and helps you communicate with precision and subtlety, much like a native speaker.

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