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

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

From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026

Private credit expanded significantly after the 2008 financial crisis, when traditional banks that were facing big losses and stiff new regulations reined in lending.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026

I ignored it and gave the girl a smile that was meant to be encouraging but now felt stiff.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

As the gels became stiffer, T cells were increasingly likely to acquire characteristics associated with tissue-resident memory cells, which help provide long-term immune protection.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 28, 2026

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

Labor advocates who have studied pesticide regulation say the oversight gaps and failures to impose stiffer fines underscore the need for more vigilant enforcement.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026

It was just as the gyptian had said: the little craft was stiffer, more responsive, and very much slippier through the water than she’d ever felt before.

From "The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage" by Philip Pullman

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

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

From Barron's ● Feb. 8, 2026

The car was so fast for so much of the season that the stiffest competition its drivers faced was from each other.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 1, 2025

As in other categories, the stiffest competition comes from ‘Severance’: Adam Scott, so compelling as the emotionally conflicted Mark S.”

From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2025

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

That honor will always go to John Wooden, with his 10 national championships in an era when the tournament contained no stiffs, but only conference champions.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 2022

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

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 6, 2021

"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

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

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

From Slate ● Aug. 10, 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

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

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

They offer the chance to leave more, but not less, preventing customers from stiffing a server over a perceived slight.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 5, 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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