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Showing results for stiffness. Search instead for joint stiffness.
Synonyms

stiffness

American  
[stif-nis] / ˈstɪf nɪs /

noun

  1. the state or condition of being rigid or firm.

    The bicycle’s frame is well balanced, with excellent stiffness throughout.

    Conventional wisdom has been that longer knife blades need more carbon for stiffness.

  2. the state or condition of being unable to move easily.

    Proper stretching will help you avoid joint stiffness and muscle tension after a workout.

  3. lack of ease or grace.

    The teacher offers advice on how to get over the stiffness or outright paralysis that can creep in when people make writing into a “big deal.”

  4. the state or condition of being rigidly formal.

    There was a stiffness to the encounter, but the ambassador was not unfriendly.

    If representatives meet only under official circumstances, a degree of stiffness is introduced which does not allow people to exchange ideas as freely.

  5. the state or condition of being excessive, difficult, or severe.

    The council expressed concern about the stiffness of the fines and sentences for such minor infractions.

  6. (of soil) the state or condition of being compact; density.

    A variety of sediment samples are needed in order to recover different types of sediment, mainly based on their stiffness.

Other Word Forms

  • overstiffness noun
  • semistiffness noun
  • unstiffness noun

Etymology

Origin of stiffness

stiff ( def. ) + -ness ( def. )

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.

At other times, clients may experience stiffness or pain that McDaniel believes may be a reaction to trauma.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2026

Their experiments showed that tissue stiffness can regulate the production of important chemical guidance cues.

From Science Daily • Mar. 5, 2026

The team, led by Prof. Kristian Franze, found that when tissue stiffness increased, cells began producing signalling molecules that are normally absent from those areas.

From Science Daily • Mar. 5, 2026

Origami models sometimes rely on folding or curving of paper for additional stiffness.

From BBC • Mar. 3, 2026

Friendly but never gushing, cool but not frigid or distant, distinguished without the awful stiffness.

From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou

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.