bieder

From Middle High German biderbe (also bederbe and shortened bider), from Old High German biderbi, piderpi, pidarpi, cognate with Bedarf. The derogatory sense arises in the 19th century. The compound Biedermann in origin means "brave, honest or capable man", but today has a meaning of "boring person, petty bourgeios".

• IPA^(key): /ˈbiːdɐ/

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bieder (strong nominative masculine singular biederer, comparative biederer, superlative am biedersten)

1. (dated, originally) honest, respectable, upright, trustworthy

   Synonyms: anständig, ehrbar, ehrenwert, ehrlich, rechtschaffen

2. (derogatory) naive, simple-minded, guileless, ingenuous, oafish (sticking simple-mindedly to society's norms)

   Synonyms: naiv, treuherzig, einfältig

3. (derogatory) narrow-minded, bourgeois, petty bourgeois, petit bourgeois, hypocritical (sticking narrow-mindedly to society's norms, with the intent on being respectable)

   Synonyms: engstirnig, spießbürgerlich, kleinbürgerlich, kleinkariert

4. (of clothes, hairstyles, etc.) conventional, stale, conservative, drab, stodgy, prude, puritanical

   Synonyms: langweilig, altbacken

• Bedarf
• bedürfen
• biderb

• “bieder” in Duden online