stiff

American  

[stif] / stɪf /

adjective

• stiffer,
  comparative
• stiffest
  superlative

1. rigid or firm; difficult or impossible to bend or flex.

   a stiff collar.

   Synonyms:

   unyielding, unbending

2. not moving or working easily.

   The motor was a little stiff from the cold weather.

3. (of a person or animal) not supple; moving with difficulty, as from cold, age, exhaustion, or injury.

4. strong; forceful; powerful: The fighter threw a stiff right to his opponent's jaw.

   stiff winds;

   The fighter threw a stiff right to his opponent's jaw.

5. strong or potent to the taste or system, as a beverage or medicine.

   He was cold and wanted a good stiff drink.

6. resolute; firm in purpose; unyielding; stubborn.

   Synonyms:

   unrelenting, pertinacious, obstinate, resolved

7. stubbornly continued.

   a stiff battle.

8. firm against any tendency to decrease, as stock-market prices.

9. rigidly formal; cold and unfriendly, as people, manners, or proceedings.

   Synonyms:

   prim, constrained, reserved

10. lacking ease and grace; awkward.

    a stiff style of writing.

    Synonyms:

    inelegant, graceless

11. excessively regular or formal, as a design; not graceful in form or arrangement.

12. laborious or difficult, as a task.

13. severe or harsh, as a penalty or demand.

14. excessive; unusually high or great.

    $50 is pretty stiff to pay for that.

15. firm from tension; taut.

    to keep a stiff rein.

16. relatively firm in consistency, as semisolid matter; thick.

    a stiff jelly;

    a stiff batter.

17. dense or compact; not friable.

    stiff soil.

18. Nautical. (of a vessel) having a high resistance to rolling; stable (opposed to crank).

19. Scot. and North England. sturdy, stout, or strongly built.

20. Australian Slang. out of luck; unfortunate.

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noun

1. Slang.

   1. a dead body; corpse.

   2. a formal or priggish person.

   3. a poor tipper; tightwad.

   4. a drunk.

2. Slang.

   1. a fellow.

      lucky stiff; poor stiff.

   2. a tramp; hobo.

   3. a laborer.

3. Slang.

   1. a forged check.

   2. a promissory note or bill of exchange.

   3. a letter or note, especially if secret or smuggled.

4. Slang. a contestant, especially a racehorse, sure to lose.

adverb

1. in or to a firm or rigid state.

   The wet shirt was frozen stiff.

2. completely, intensely, or extremely: We're scared stiff.

   I'm bored stiff by these lectures.

   We're scared stiff.

verb (used with object)

• stiffs,
  present (3rd person singular)
• stiffed,
  past participle,  past
• stiffing
  present participle

1. Slang. to fail or refuse to tip (a waiter, porter, etc.).

2. Slang. to cheat; swindle; do out of.

   The company stiffed me out of a week's pay.

stiff British  

/ stɪf /

adjective

1. not easily bent; rigid; inflexible

2. not working or moving easily or smoothly

   a stiff handle

3. difficult to accept in its severity or harshness

   a stiff punishment

4. moving with pain or difficulty; not supple

   a stiff neck

5. difficult; arduous

   a stiff climb

6. unrelaxed or awkward; formal

7. firmer than liquid in consistency; thick or viscous

8. powerful; strong

   a stiff breeze

   a stiff drink

9. excessively high

   a stiff price

10. nautical (of a sailing vessel) relatively resistant to heeling or rolling Compare tender 1

11. lacking grace or attractiveness

12. stubborn or stubbornly maintained

    a stiff fight

13. obsolete tightly stretched; taut

14. slang unlucky

15. slang intoxicated

16. See lip

17. informal amply provided with

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noun

1. slang a corpse

2. slang anything thought to be a loser or a failure; flop

adverb

1. completely or utterly

   bored stiff

   frozen stiff

verb

1. slang (intr) to fail

   the film stiffed

2. slang (tr) to cheat or swindle

3. slang (tr) to kill

stiff Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing stiff

• bore to death (stiff)
• keep a stiff upper lip
• scare out of one's wits (stiff)

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Synonym Usage

See firm ¹.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• stiffness
  noun
• overstiff
  adjective
• semistiff
  adjective
• stiffish
  adjective
• unstiff
  adjective
• overstiffly
  adverb
• semistiffly
  adverb
• stiffly
  adverb
• unstiffly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Adjectives

• stiffer
  comparative
• stiffest
  superlative

Participles

• stiffing
  present
• stiffed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• stiff
  simple
• stiffs
  simple
• have stiffed
  perfect
• has stiffed
  perfect
• am stiffing
  progressive
• are stiffing
  progressive
• is stiffing
  progressive
• have been stiffing
  perfect progressive
• has been stiffing
  perfect progressive

Past

• stiffed
  simple
• had stiffed
  perfect
• was stiffing
  progressive
• were stiffing
  progressive
• had been stiffing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will stiff
  simple
• will have stiffed
  perfect
• will be stiffing
  progressive
• will have been stiffing
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of stiff

First recorded before 1000; Middle English stif, stijf, Old English stīf; cognate with German steif, Old Norse stífr; akin to Latin stīpāre “to crowd, press” ( see steeve ¹ ( def. ), stifle ¹ )

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Explanation

Stiff things don’t bend or move easily. Dead bodies and tree branches are often stiff, and your back might feel stiff if you sit for too long. But to stiff the wait staff is to skip the tip. Bad idea. If a doorknob is stiff, it won't turn smoothly, and if the smile on your face is stiff, it’s frozen and unnatural looking. When a person is stiff, they are artificial and unrelaxed — unless they're "scared stiff" or "bored stiff." A regular guy is a working stiff. Another colloquial meaning of stiff is "to underpay, or to cheat.” Also, a stiff drink has a lot of alcohol. A dead body is sometimes called a stiff, but it’s rude.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stiff stiffer stiffest stiffs stiffed stiffing

Arteriosclerosis occurs when blood vessels carrying oxygen and nutrients from the heart to the body become thick and stiff, according to the Mayo Clinic.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026

Researchers found that T cells can detect how stiff their surrounding tissues are and use this physical information to influence whether they develop into long-lasting memory cells.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 28, 2026

The stock market will face stiff headwinds over the next 12 months, according to an obscure indicator with an enviable track record.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2026

But it’s up against stiff competition from three other cities, as Sam Read reports.

From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026

All these people and cameras, and yet nobody notices me levitating or Dad, JP, and Uncle Ty walking like stiff zombies.

From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas

The pants, made from stiffer denim, proved to be slightly easier, and the robot finished the task in a little over a minute.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

Chinese automakers may opt to prioritize higher-priced models, which could lead to stiffer competition with premium German brands, they add.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

Trapped in this stiffer, earlier incarnation, the only acting Strong is able to do is poke his head straight up from his shoulders until he resembles a retractable pen.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

Manchester United will experience far stiffer tests of their Champions League credentials than Sabah FK gave them at Old Trafford.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026

The cold, staring eyes deepened their crimson, and Cutie seemed stiffer than ever.

From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov

Over the next couple of weeks, the stock market will face some of the stiffest seasonal headwinds of the entire year.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026

She had offers from England, Mexico and the United States, with sources close to the player stating Boston Legacy provided the stiffest competition.

From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026

Some of the stiffest competition at the Masters happens in the shops.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 11, 2026

His penalty of life imprisonment without parole was the stiffest in New Zealand history.

From Barron's ● Feb. 8, 2026

A Welch High School display of plant fossils found in coal mines seemed our stiffest competition.

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam

Let’s say they’re stiffs and they’re stupid people, and they say, ‘Well, we really have no choice.’

From Washington Post ● Dec. 6, 2022

Politico also reported that for his legal services, Kise will be paid by Trump, who regularly stiffs lawyers and business partners when it comes time to sign off on the bill.

From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2022

Iceland has achieved the holy grail for working stiffs: same pay for shorter hours.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 6, 2021

Some portrait sitters come across as stiffs or grouches.

From New York Times ● Dec. 24, 2020

"Just between ourselves, Blore, and taking into account that we'll probably both be a couple of stiffs before another day is out, you did indulge in that spot of perjury, I suppose?"

From "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie

The military and House staffers get stiffed next week.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2025

DuBon had been stiffed on a painting job a few weeks earlier — an employer simply refused to pay — and started going to Casa Latina instead of Home Depot.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 8, 2024

But when he asked the court for reimbursement, he got stiffed.

From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2023

Thousands of private vendors who supplied the state with goods and services got stiffed after July 1.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2023

Eddie said, “And Mr. C. tells them if we aren’t the best band they’d ever had then they don’t have to pay. We haven’t been stiffed yet.”

From "Bud, Not Buddy" by Christopher Paul Curtis

Any reform plan from a committee would still require lawmakers to cast a difficult vote exposing them to charges of overtaxing working Americans or stiffing retirees.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

“Under Musk’s control, Twitter has become a scofflaw, stiffing employees, landlords, vendors, and others,” says the lawsuit, filed in federal court in the Northern District of California.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 4, 2024

“They are just stiffing everyone,” said Jayson Woodbridge, a California winemaker who had a reservation for a weeklong stay at the hotel to attend his daughter’s graduation in the area.

From New York Times ● May 11, 2022

All the while, Zuberi maximized his personal gains by cheating his foreign clients, stiffing the lobbyists he hired and evading taxes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2021

“If you’re not getting commissions, Becker’s stiffing you.”

From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls

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Related Words

• brisk
• excessive
• extreme
• hard
• harsh
• heavy
• rigorous
• sharp
• steep
• strict
• stringent
• strong
• vigorous

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