stiff upper lip
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Blake, biting his stiff upper lip, sets out to do the impossible.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026
“So many people do have this view that Harry should have had a stiff upper lip, that he should have grit his teeth and borne it,” Smith told me.
From Slate • Jan. 14, 2023
Anyone who has watched the many dramatizations of the queen’s life — including “The Crown” — or the coverage of her death is already well-versed in the problems of always maintaining a stiff upper lip.
From Washington Post • Nov. 13, 2022
She joked about her husband's phone ringing, saying: "I could have killed him. People think the Queen is all stiff upper lip but she has a sense of humour."
From BBC • Jul. 15, 2022
The British magazine Chess relaxed its stiff upper lip, calling Bobby’s effort a game of “great depth and brilliancy.”
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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.
