View synonyms for stiffness

stiffness

[ stif-nis ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

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.
the state or condition of being unable to move easily:
Proper stretching will help you avoid joint stiffness and muscle tension after a workout.
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.”
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.
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.
(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.

Early signs are often movement-related, including tremors, stiffness, and problems with walking.

Other auras include neck stiffness, lack of focus, and nausea.

Your miner friends notice the stiffness of your walk and chaff you about it.

Some senior Whitehall sources believed that there was an early “stiffness” between the Queen and Mrs. Thatcher.

But Norris is so inviolably the real thing that even his mind-boggling thespian stiffness works as a badge of pride.

Madame Ratignolle begged Robert to accompany her to the house; she complained of cramp in her limbs and stiffness of the joints.

Here was none of the old-time stiffness of Capheaton, and there was a conspicuous absence of dead masters and their pupils.

"He was not in my service," said Nigel, with a sudden, very English stiffness that was almost like haughtiness.

As Nejdi, too, was showing signs of stiffness, Malcolm mounted one of the spare animals and led the Arab.

Jim led the horses to a little stream of water as the girls stamped the stiffness out of their cramped legs.

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