A colorful character in the buttoned-down, dull-grey world of business.    From Wordnet, Princeton University. 

No one in Moose County has that buttoned-down cool.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare]

It's going to be very efficient, very buttoned-down.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript - Larry King Live Weekend: George W. Bush Takes the Oath of Office and Clinton Says Farewell - January 20, 2001] Reference

On the surface, the new buttoned-down style is clearly in.    From Wordnik.com.  [Clinton Goes Corporate] Reference

But in his own buttoned-down way Wilson is no less anxious.    From Wordnik.com.  [Riding The Wave] Reference

A typically buttoned-down law enforcement event it was not.    From Wordnik.com.  [Michelle Obama rallies Justice Dept. workers] Reference

That's language not often heard in the buttoned-down Boeing empire.    From Wordnik.com.  [Boeing Brings in Old Hands, Gets an Earful] Reference

They frequently clashed with BP's buttoned-down, bureaucratic culture.    From Wordnik.com.  [Misreading the Kremlin Costs BP Control in Russia Venture] Reference

And, normally he's so laid-back and so buttoned-down and so controlled.    From Wordnik.com.  [Remarks By The President At New Democrat Network Dinner] Reference

The car had the typical, buttoned-down BMW feel, yet the ride was supple.    From Wordnik.com.  [Behind the wheel: 2011 BMW 5 Series] Reference

Maybe he played squash twice a week with some of his buttoned-down colleagues.    From Wordnik.com.  [Ugly Americans]

She is buttoned-down and smart and knows how to stay out of the way of a story.    From Wordnik.com.  [Leslie Griffith: Rachel Maddow Takes Us Back to the Future] Reference

In buttoned-down Japan, even an ordinary layoff can be a humiliating experience.    From Wordnik.com.  [Japan: Death In Second Grade] Reference

Even a buttoned-down Obama economic adviser took the verbal spanking over the top.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Mar 16, 2009] Reference

"How do you propose we do that?" he asked his normally straight, buttoned-down pal.    From Wordnik.com.  [Our Soldiers Are Dying To Win] Reference

Even the choice of glossy Vanity Fair seems to contradict Felt's buttoned-down nature.    From Wordnik.com.  [Richard Bradley: Vanity Fair and Deep Throat: The Story Behind the Story] Reference

Candy lunged forward to hug her friend, who did look a bit buttoned-down to be a surfer.    From Wordnik.com.  [One-ClickBuy:SeptemberHarlequinBlaze]

After the interview, two buttoned-down gentlemen walked up to Mr. Jenkins and said hello.    From Wordnik.com.  [Fox News Gets a Griff] Reference

An unusually buttoned-down Ciaran Hinds is the fastidious cleanup man, riddled with doubts.    From Wordnik.com.  [Heaviness For The Holidays] Reference

Everything is about Tiger's discipline, buttoned-down, the way he looks on the golf course.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Nov 30, 2009] Reference

But Berlin's buttoned-down political culture has largely resisted embracing online politics.    From Wordnik.com.  [Exporting American-Style Democracy? Germans Get Their Own "Obama Girl"] Reference

The Trader Vic's at New York's Plaza Hotel was a favorite of the buttoned-down preppy crowd.    From Wordnik.com.  [Tiki Doesn't Have to Be Tacky] Reference

In its exuberance it stands in lively counterpoint to the surrounding buttoned-down skyscrapers.    From Wordnik.com.  [Mega Museum, Riv. Vu] Reference

Involuntarily his hand moved to check that the envelope was safe in his buttoned-down hip pocket.    From Wordnik.com.  [Noble House]

The Bear employees who stuck around are adjusting to life inside a buttoned-down commercial bank.    From Wordnik.com.  [Bear's Fall Especially Brutal for Employees] Reference

Much of the justification for the XFL was that the NFL was too staid, too soulless, too buttoned-down.    From Wordnik.com.  [Sports: Single Season] Reference

The buttoned-down, bespectacled host of CNBC's Rivera Live enjoys a 26 percent ratings increase over last year.    From Wordnik.com.  [President on Lam Drops Into Mediacracy's Back Yard; His Goal? $2 Million; Their Goal: Eat Him Alive!] Reference

MOOS: You get to see normally buttoned-down folks, like the White House deputy press secretary showing some skin.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Mar 29, 2007] Reference

He was wearing a white collarless shirt, buttoned-down, a very simple black blazer and what appeared to be pajama bottoms.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Mar 29, 2007] Reference

Reece Tate was an uptight, buttoned-down, and formal man, so I kept our conversation as nonthreatening as I possibly could.    From Wordnik.com.  [Four Blind Mice]

For a Southern, buttoned-down banker like Lewis, growing a beard in Aspen is the equivalent of a full-on existential crisis.    From Wordnik.com.  [Why Ken Lewis Gave Up] Reference

Third is Mr. Met, part of the team's efforts to market a family-friendly image to contrast itself with the buttoned-down Yankees.    From Wordnik.com.  [America's Favorite Sports Mascots] Reference

And as the buttoned-down publisher learns Internet geekspeak, it is also finally forcing its mini-fiefdoms to speak to each other.    From Wordnik.com.  [Bertelsmann's Online Onslaught] Reference

Straitened times may call for buttoned-down style, but if there's one place you can still let your freak flag fly, it's the beach.    From Wordnik.com.  [Michelle Madhok: Neon Nails Remain an 80s Trend We Support, Unlike Frosted Tips] Reference

Coming from Robert Gates — the epitome of the soft-spoken, buttoned-down public servant — the rebuke was particularly striking.    From Wordnik.com.  [Let Generals Speak Their Minds] Reference

Wisecracking, irreverent, unafraid of breaking corporate crockery, he was a refreshing change in Time Inc. 's buttoned-down precincts.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Norman Evasion] Reference

His twisty smile, debonair charm and twinge of self-effacement bring a much-needed jauntiness to an otherwise buttoned-down production.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Life Of The Party] Reference

The markets had whispered for weeks that buttoned-down Sumitomo, one of the world's largest trading companies, had taken a hit in copper.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Mighty Copper King] Reference