bufferdom

Definitions

The state of being an ‘old buffer’, or a conservative, somewhat foolish old man.

UK, uncountable

Examples

“Sometime in the late autumn of 1977, I went to a book party that was held in the Rosebery Room of the House of Lords. Why I went I can’t think⟳ – the volume was some piece of unreadable bufferdom extruded by Lord Butler […].”

“Her predecessors, Stephen Tumim and David Ramsbotham, pillars of establishment bufferdom with impeccable social consciences, had enraged the Home Secretaries to whom they reported.”

“It would be tempting to see⟳ in Malcolm McLaren's final years the descent into amiable bufferdom of a once free spirit, and to conclude⟳ that the ---- Establishment always wins in the end⟳.”

CEFR level