stick in the mud
/ˈstɪk.ɪn.ðəˌmʌd/
"stick-in-the-mud" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“stick in the mud” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 16
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A person unwilling to participate in activities; a curmudgeon or party pooper.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | stick in the mud |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈstɪk.ɪn.ðəˌmʌd/ |
| Letters | 16 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “stick in the mud” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for stick in the mud is 16 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈstɪk.ɪn.ðəˌmʌd/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
stick in the mud doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct English form is stick in the mud, spelled S-T-I-C-K- -I-N- -T-H-E- -M-U-D.
Definition
- 1A person unwilling to participate in activities; a curmudgeon or party pooper.
- 2More generally, one who is slow, old-fashioned, or unprogressive; an old fogey.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “stick in the mud”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-T-I-C-K- -I-N- -T-H-E- -M-U-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈstɪk.ɪn.ðəˌmʌd/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.