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

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 )

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

Baidu is facing stiff competition in China from tech titans such as Alibaba and ByteDance, as well as startups like DeepSeek and Moonshot AI in the AI sector.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

It was an already-poorly lamb, which Fiona said had not shown typical symptoms - it had been drooling, dropping food from its mouth and its legs were stiff, but not lame.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

For their part, the mass-market carmaker's executives say they are trying to adapt to the "reality" of stiff global competition.

From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026

Over time, regular resistance training can help lower blood pressure and keep arteries flexible rather than stiff, which protects against cardiovascular disease.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026

Back straight, chest out, chin at a ninety-degree angle, he marches with stiff legs, advancing for hours on end.

From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el

Over two days, three judges at the Court of Appeal in Melbourne will hear two appeals: Patterson's attempt to overturn her conviction and the prosecution's demand for a stiffer sentence.

From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026

The politicians also want to allow for stiffer fines against companies following a disaster.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

Collagen normally gives tissue structure and strength, but excessive collagen can make a valve thicker and stiffer, changing its shape and movement.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026

You’re now facing a stiffer penalty than before, as device prices go anywhere but down.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026

His gray, drooping face appeared to be made of something stiffer than ordinary skin; it rarely moved except for making the smile that was on it now.

From "The City of Ember" by Jeanne DuPrau

Tarrant's penalty of life imprisonment without parole was the stiffest in New Zealand history.

From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 11, 2026

As in other categories, the stiffest competition comes from ‘Severance’: Adam Scott, so compelling as the emotionally conflicted Mark S. His conversation with his ‘outie’ self was a knockout.”

From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2025

Prosecutors said they will ask for the stiffest sentence possible since the plea agreement was breached and require Murdaugh serve his federal sentence at the end of any state sentences.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 26, 2024

Her body curled too; as the weeks turned to months, she shrank into herself like the stiffest of fetuses, shrivelling, her skin sallow and waxy.

From "Typical American" by Gish Jen

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

They’ve been replaced by working stiffs with piles of debt who, quite understandably, just want to make a quick buck.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 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

These are the “private investors” who would get stiffed if Ivanpah were to shut down due to the project’s minimal asset salvage value and the sizable Energy Department loan standing first in the recovery line.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 25, 2025

Through a series of high-profile protests and rallies, deliverers informed customers that they were getting stiffed on pay, and they did not have durable insurance to cover accidents, robberies, injuries, and physical attacks.

From Slate ● Oct. 22, 2025

Delvey says the monitor, imposed after she faked wire transfers, defrauded New York’s elite, and stiffed hotels and restaurants to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars, shouldn’t hinder her performance too much.

From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2024

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

The biggest event Suffolk had seen in years was a traveling sideshow that came through town on the railroad tracks, with a stiffed whale in a boxcar.

From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride

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

And the Black content creators who, in a recent Washington Post article, accused the social media company of stiffing them?

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2022

It also happened to be a gift to anyone stiffing Uncle Sam.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 11, 2022

But for every Ben and Jerry, there are countless Janes and Joes ticked off at their college roommate for stiffing them on a business loan.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 22, 2022

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

From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls

Related Words

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