firm
1 Americanadjective
-
firmer,
comparative
-
firmest
superlative
-
not soft or yielding when pressed; comparatively solid, hard, stiff, or rigid.
firm ground;
firm texture.
-
securely fixed in place.
-
not shaking or trembling; steady.
a firm voice.
-
not likely to change; fixed; settled; unalterable.
a firm belief.
- Synonyms:
- confirmed
-
steadfast or unwavering, as persons or principles.
firm friends.
- Synonyms:
- reliable, staunch, immovable, determined
-
indicating firmness or determination.
a firm expression.
-
not fluctuating much or falling, as prices, values, etc..
The stock market was firm today.
verb (used with object)
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firms,
present (3rd person singular)
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firmed,
past participle, past
-
firming
present participle
-
to make firm; tighten or strengthen (sometimes followed byup ).
to firm up one's hold on something.
-
to steady or fix (sometimes followed byup ).
to firm up prices.
verb (used without object)
-
firms,
present (3rd person singular)
-
firmed,
past participle, past
-
firming
present participle
-
to become firm or fixed (sometimes followed byup ).
Butter firms by churning.
-
(of prices, markets, etc.) to recover; become stronger, as after a decline (sometimes followed byup ).
Stock prices firmed again today.
adverb
adjective
-
not soft or yielding to a touch or pressure; rigid; solid
-
securely in position; stable or stationary
-
definitely established; decided; settled
-
enduring or steady; constant
-
having determination or strength; resolute
-
(of prices, markets, etc) tending to rise
adverb
verb
-
(sometimes foll by up) to make or become firm
-
(intr) horse racing (of a horse) to shorten in odds
noun
-
a business partnership
-
any commercial enterprise
-
a team of doctors and their assistants
-
slang
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a gang of criminals
-
a gang of football hooligans
-
Synonym Usage
Firm, hard, solid, stiff are applied to substances that tend to retain their form unaltered in spite of pressure or force. Firm often implies that something has been brought from a yielding state to a fixed or elastic one: An increased amount of pectin makes jellies firm. Hard is applied to substances so resistant that it is difficult to make any impression upon their surface or to penetrate their interior: as hard as a stone. Solid is applied to substances that without external support retain their form and resist pressure: Water in the form of ice is solid. It sometimes denotes the opposite of hollow: a solid block of marble. Stiff implies rigidity that resists a bending force: as stiff as a poker.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
firmsimple
-
firmssimple
-
have firmedperfect
-
has firmedperfect
-
am firmingprogressive
-
are firmingprogressive
-
is firmingprogressive
-
have been firmingperfect progressive
-
has been firmingperfect progressive
Past
-
firmedsimple
-
had firmedperfect
-
was firmingprogressive
-
were firmingprogressive
-
had been firmingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of firm1
First recorded in 1300–50; from Latin firmus; replacing Middle English ferm(e), from Middle French ferm(e), from Latin
Origin of firm2
First recorded in 1565–75; from Spanish firma “signature” (hence, legal name of a partnership), noun derivative of firmar “to sign,” from Latin firmāre “to strengthen, confirm,” derivative of firmus firm 1
Explanation
The adjective firm describes something that's strong and unwavering. If your great Aunt Martha had a firm belief that children should be seen and not heard, you and your siblings might have spent your childhood driving her crazy. Something that is solid can also be described as firm. When you take a stick of butter out of the fridge, it's firm, and it needs to soften before you cream it with sugar. Another definition for the adjective firm is unwavering or loyal. You might be a firm supporter of your favorite baseball team, even though they haven't made it to a World Series in more than twenty years.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The viral Welsh vodka firm Au Vodka is nearing a £500m sale to Southern Comfort and BuzzBallz owner Sazerac.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
“The natural-gas industry has been transitioning,” said Gabriele Sorbara, a managing director and senior equity analyst at financial-services firm Siebert Williams Shank, where he focuses on the energy industry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
Goldberg, a victim’s rights law firm focused on survivors of tech-enabled abuse.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
Woke 1 is a colleague at a public-relations firm starting a GoFundMe to escape a “toxic roommate situation.”
From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026
Good thing he’d kept a firm hold on his phone, because it would have followed mine into the electronic afterlife.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
And just 2% of firms quantified the impact of AI productivity on earnings, a similar share to the first quarter of 2026.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026
In a survey, most firms said they would still report their financials four times a year but do fewer government filings given the option to file semiannually.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
Proceeds from the loans made by the insurers passed through entities purportedly controlled by each of these firms before being used to fund other Walter-linked businesses, the people said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
For years, the government has helped compensate banks and payment firms for providing a service that has effectively been treated as public infrastructure.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
The losses announced by the big Wall Street firms on subprime mortgage bonds had started huge and kept growing.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Canadian National Railway CNR 2.05%increase; up pointing triangle boosted its full-year outlook, citing firmer freight demand and shifting economic conditions, as the railroad posted higher profit and revenue in the second quarter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
But there may be a force at play with an even firmer hold on the American man: gas prices.
From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2026
That's a firmer line than he gave when I interviewed him four years ago.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
ANZ’s Tan said that a combination of resilient economic growth and gradually firmer inflation should give the central bank room to raise its policy rate later this year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
Then the taste...It was like the smell, but stronger, sweeter, firmer.
From "Miracles on Maple Hill" by Virginia Sorensen
Intel looks to be “on its firmest footing in years,” Seaport Research analyst Jay Goldberg said in a Thursday note.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 25, 2026
So far the firmest interest in Ramsdale has come from Wolves, who have made an offer to sign the 26-year-old England international on a season-long loan.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2024
Folky fingerpicking and new-agey thoughts about self-help make “Deeper Well” one of the gentlest but firmest rebuffs imaginable.
From New York Times ● Feb. 9, 2024
That was the firmest reading since September, and it is bad news for central bankers because it signals that price pressures still have a lot of staying power.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 14, 2023
“You are imaginary,” I said in my firmest voice.
From "Crenshaw" by Katherine Applegate
He said industry guidance had been "firmed up".
From BBC ● Apr. 14, 2026
Solid job gains and low unemployment would be seen by a majority of Fed officials as further evidence that the labor market has firmed.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 5, 2026
To me, that hints at the possibility that the six-justice majority firmed up very quickly after arguments.
From Slate ● Feb. 20, 2026
Core price growth remains above 2%, wage growth has firmed, and job creation remains positive, readings that together argue for patience in bringing down rates.
From Barron's ● Feb. 18, 2026
She took a few wobbly steps forward, then firmed up her stride.
From "Shadowshaper" by Daniel José Older
The report suggests the labor market is firming across multiple sectors after near-zero job growth last year, despite more recent concerns about rising energy prices that have driven consumer sentiment to a record low.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
The relentless rally in equities, signs of firming job growth, and surprisingly hawkish minutes from the April Federal Open Market Committee meeting all added to the mix.
From Barron's ● May 23, 2026
The Bank of Japan said it is carefully monitoring the risk that oil prices may accelerate underlying inflation, firming expectations of a summer rate hike.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
"It's always easy to be aggressive from the fairway and take advantage of the greens being just a hair softer. But I think they're slowly firming up."
From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2026
Push the sets well down into the ground and cover with soil, firming them with the feet or a roller.
From Manual of Gardening (Second Edition) by L. H. (Liberty Hyde) Bailey
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
