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)
-
firms,
present (3rd person singular)
-
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
-
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:
Overly glib or sarcastic messages can get you into trouble, even if they are funny, reckons Paul Fitzsimmons, head of sales and marketing at law firm Wilford Smith.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
Kushner, a co-founder of a venture capital firm Thrive Capital and the permanent holdings company Thrive Eternal, will have to divest a minority stake in the Miami Heat before the Lakers purchase can be approved.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
The firm said Grok 4.6 is comparable to Kimi K3, the open model developed by Beijing-based Moonshot AI and which briefly caused a technology-stock selloff upon its release.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026
The recent move could set up the firm for a public debut this year, though there are no guarantees the firm will proceed, and the plans partly depend on market conditions, the people said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
Where it came to rest on firm ground, and the mud reached a point below the mark, they stepped forward.
From "Rowan of Rin" by Emily Rodda
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
Proceeds from loans made by Walter’s insurers passed through firms purportedly controlled by each of these four entities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
One result: Private-equity firms have been acquiring physician groups and outpatient facilities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
Last year, the government allowed private firms to build and operate atomic power projects, underlining a push for alternative energy.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
The “consumer loan” piles that Wall Street firms, led by Goldman Sachs, asked AIG FP to insure went from being 2 percent subprime mortgages to being 95 percent subprime mortgages.
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
For the most part I was silent with them, though I knew that I had a firmer grasp of life than most of them.
From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright
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
He told BBC Newsnight's special programme: "Why has this one got the firmest of lids on it? I think it is because it goes to the heart of the British state."
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2025
But then there’s also the nagging feeling that Tøndel doesn’t have the firmest grasp on his own material.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2025
“It’s probably the firmest evidence yet that this planet has an atmosphere,” said Ian Crossfield, an astronomer at the University of Kansas who studies exoplanets and was not involved with the research.
From Seattle Times ● May 8, 2024
I say, in my firmest, calmest astronaut voice.
From "Shine!" by J.J. and Chris Grabenstein
Oil prices jumped while stock markets mostly retreated and the dollar firmed Thursday as hopes of a Middle East peace accord faded on conflicting headlines on the state of talks.
From Barron's ● May 21, 2026
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
Underlying volumes in air grew strongly, while gross profit yields firmed up in sea logistics showed a solid quarter-on-quarter improvement in air logistics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 3, 2026
Remembering La Llorona’s warning, I firmed up my resolve.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
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
With the labor market firming, Fed policymakers flagged an increased concern about inflation, and rate hikes are potentially in the pipeline to tame raging prices.
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
“A majority of participants highlighted…that some policy firming would likely become appropriate if inflation were to continue to run persistently above 2%,” according to the minutes of the April policy meeting, released Wednesday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 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
Her hands moved deftly, and Wes, who had finished firming the earth about the plant, watched them.
From O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1921 by Edison Marshall
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.
