stiff
rigid or firm; difficult or impossible to bend or flex: a stiff collar.
not moving or working easily: The motor was a little stiff from the cold weather.
(of a person or animal) not supple; moving with difficulty, as from cold, age, exhaustion, or injury.
strong or potent to the taste or system, as a beverage or medicine: He was cold and wanted a good stiff drink.
resolute; firm in purpose; unyielding; stubborn.
stubbornly continued: a stiff battle.
firm against any tendency to decrease, as stock-market prices.
rigidly formal; cold and unfriendly, as people, manners, or proceedings.
lacking ease and grace; awkward: a stiff style of writing.
excessively regular or formal, as a design; not graceful in form or arrangement.
laborious or difficult, as a task.
severe or harsh, as a penalty or demand.
excessive; unusually high or great: $50 is pretty stiff to pay for that.
firm from tension; taut: to keep a stiff rein.
relatively firm in consistency, as semisolid matter; thick: a stiff jelly;a stiff batter.
dense or compact; not friable: stiff soil.
Nautical. (of a vessel) having a high resistance to rolling; stable (opposed to crank2).
Scot. and North England. sturdy, stout, or strongly built.
Australian Slang. out of luck; unfortunate.
Slang.
a dead body; corpse.
a formal or priggish person.
a poor tipper; tightwad.
a drunk.
Slang.
a fellow: lucky stiff; poor stiff.
a tramp; hobo.
a laborer.
Slang.
a forged check.
a promissory note or bill of exchange.
a letter or note, especially if secret or smuggled.
Slang. a contestant, especially a racehorse, sure to lose.
in or to a firm or rigid state: The wet shirt was frozen stiff.
completely, intensely, or extremely: I'm bored stiff by these lectures.We're scared stiff.
Origin of stiff
1synonym study For stiff
Other words for stiff
1 | unbending, unyielding |
6 | resolved, obstinate, pertinacious; unrelenting |
9 | reserved, constrained, starched, prim |
10 | graceless, inelegant |
Other words from stiff
- stiff·ish, adjective
- stiff·ly, adverb
- stiff·ness, noun
- o·ver·stiff, adjective
- o·ver·stiff·ly, adverb
- sem·i·stiff, adjective
- sem·i·stiff·ly, adverb
- un·stiff, adjective
- un·stiff·ly, adverb
Words Nearby stiff
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use stiff in a sentence
The new law will require shell companies to provide the names of their owners or face stiff penalties and jail sentences.
House Oversight Committee chairwoman requests FBI probe of Parler, including its role in Capitol siege | Tom Hamburger, Craig Timberg | January 22, 2021 | Washington PostOpt to power such skis with a stiffer freetour boot, and you might be able to squeeze out a bit more downhill performance.
The controversy over trigger pointsYou may refer to them as knots, but those tender, stiff, and often painful areas you most likely have on your shoulders, neck, and back are technically known as trigger points.
A step-by-step guide to giving yourself a massage | Sandra Gutierrez G. | January 14, 2021 | Popular-ScienceFor the first time, shell companies will be required to provide the names of their owners or face stiff penalties and jail sentences.
A quietly passed law cracks down on shell companies to combat corruption | Rachel Schallom | January 10, 2021 | FortuneSocial video platforms’ contest for creatorsIn the same way that Netflix faces its stiffest competition yet in 2021, so does YouTube.
Here are the five major forces and trends that will shape the future of TV in 2021 | Tim Peterson | January 6, 2021 | Digiday
Ney said McDonnell needs to “keep a stiff lip” and stay in close contact with family members.
Abramoff’s Advice for Virginia’s New Jailhouse Guv | Tim Mak, Jackie Kucinich | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTHer pallid young face, brow sweating with fear and pain, yet resolute and stiff with sorrow, makes you want to cry.
FDR wanted to project easy grace rather than stiff formality—especially when communicating complicated matters.
Perhaps, though, it is best that the big awful secret remains hidden from the public, out of Working stiff and everywhere else.
The Dirty Secret Doctors Don't Want You To Know | Kent Sepkowitz | August 22, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHe is in his late forties; intelligent, people say, but stiff and restrained, an eternal bachelor.
Adam Hochschild on Keeping Company With His Dying Father | Adam Hochschild | June 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBut there was a breeze blowing, a choppy, stiff wind that whipped the water into froth.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories | Kate ChopinMacRae's heels clicked together and his right hand went up in the stiff military salute.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. SinclairI kept a stiff backbone for a while, but presently a futile rage against circumstances bubbled up and boiled over.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. SinclairHe braced himself unconsciously, and after Zeal's next words did not relax his body, although his lips turned white and stiff.
Ancestors | Gertrude AthertonIf he had cut her, he would have shown less contempt than in that stiff raising of the hat.
Rosemary in Search of a Father | C. N. Williamson
British Dictionary definitions for stiff
/ (stɪf) /
not easily bent; rigid; inflexible
not working or moving easily or smoothly: a stiff handle
difficult to accept in its severity or harshness: a stiff punishment
moving with pain or difficulty; not supple: a stiff neck
difficult; arduous: a stiff climb
unrelaxed or awkward; formal
firmer than liquid in consistency; thick or viscous
powerful; strong: a stiff breeze; a stiff drink
excessively high: a stiff price
nautical (of a sailing vessel) relatively resistant to heeling or rolling: Compare tender 1 (def. 11)
lacking grace or attractiveness
stubborn or stubbornly maintained: a stiff fight
obsolete tightly stretched; taut
slang, mainly Australian unlucky
slang intoxicated
stiff upper lip See lip (def. 9)
stiff with informal amply provided with
slang a corpse
slang anything thought to be a loser or a failure; flop
completely or utterly: bored stiff; frozen stiff
(intr) slang to fail: the film stiffed
(tr) slang, mainly US to cheat or swindle
(tr) slang to kill
Origin of stiff
1Derived forms of stiff
- stiffish, adjective
- stiffly, adverb
- stiffness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with stiff
In addition to the idioms beginning with stiff
- stiff as a board
- stiff upper lip
also see:
- bore to death (stiff)
- keep a stiff upper lip
- scare out of one's wits (stiff)
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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