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stiff - 8 dictionary results

stiff

  [stif] adjective, -er, -est, noun, adverb, verb
Use stiff in a Sentence
–adjective
1. rigid or firm; difficult or impossible to bend or flex: a stiff collar.
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: 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.
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.
10. lacking ease and grace; awkward: a stiff style of writing.
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.
–noun
21. Slang.
a. a dead body; corpse.
b. a formal or priggish person.
c. a poor tipper; tightwad.
d. a drunk.
22. Slang.
a. a fellow: lucky stiff; poor stiff.
b. a tramp; hobo.
c. a laborer.
23. Slang.
a. a forged check.
b. a promissory note or bill of exchange.
c. a letter or note, esp. if secret or smuggled.
24. Slang. a contestant, esp. a racehorse, sure to lose.
–adverb
25. in or to a firm or rigid state: The wet shirt was frozen stiff.
26. completely, intensely, or extremely: I'm bored stiff by these lectures. We're scared stiff.
–verb (used with object)
27. Slang. to fail or refuse to tip (a waiter, porter, etc.).
28. Slang. to cheat; gyp; do out of: The company stiffed me out of a week's pay.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME (adj. and adv.); OE stīf; c. G steif; akin to stifle 1 , steeve 1

Related forms:
stiffish, adjective
stiffly, adverb
stiffness, noun

Synonyms:
1. unbending, unyielding. See firm 1 . 6. unrelenting, resolved, obstinate, pertinacious. 9. reserved, constrained, starched, prim. 10. graceless, inelegant.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To stiff
stiff   (stĭf)   
adj.   stiff·er, stiff·est
  1. Difficult to bend; rigid.
    1. Not moving or operating easily or freely; resistant: a stiff hinge.
    2. Lacking ease or comfort of movement; not limber: a stiff neck.
    3. Rigidly formal.
    4. Lacking ease or grace.
  3. Drawn tightly; taut.
    1. Rigidly formal.
    2. Lacking ease or grace.
  5. Not liquid, loose, or fluid; thick: stiff dough.
  6. Firm, as in purpose; resolute.
  7. Having a strong, swift, steady force or movement: a stiff current; a stiff breeze.
  8. Potent or strong: a stiff drink.
  9. Difficult, laborious, or arduous: a stiff hike; a stiff examination.
  10. Difficult to comprehend or accept; harsh or severe: a stiff penalty.
  11. Excessively high: a stiff price.
  12. Nautical Not heeling over much in spite of great wind or the press of the sail.
adv.  
  1. In a stiff manner: frozen stiff.
  2. To a complete extent; totally: bored stiff.
n.   Slang
  1. A corpse.
  2. A person regarded as constrained, priggish, or overly formal.
  3. A drunk.
  4. A person: a lucky stiff; just an ordinary working stiff.
  5. A hobo; a tramp.
  6. A person who tips poorly.
tr.v.   stiffed, stiff·ing, stiffs Slang
  1. To tip (someone) inadequately or not at all, as for a service rendered: paid the dinner check but stiffed the waiter.
    1. To cheat (someone) of something owed: My roommate stiffed me out of last month's rent.
    2. To fail to give or supply (something expected or promised).

[Middle English, from Old English stīf.]
stiff'ish adj., stiff'ly adv., stiff'ness n.
Synonyms: These adjectives describe what is very firm and does not easily bend or give way. Stiff, the least specific, refers to what can be flexed only with difficulty (a brush with stiff bristles); with reference to persons it often suggests a lack of ease, cold formality, or fixity, as of purpose: "stiff in opinions" (John Dryden).
Rigid and inflexible apply to what cannot be bent without damage or deformation (a table of rigid plastic; an inflexible knife blade); figuratively they describe what does not relent or yield: "under the dictates of a rigid disciplinarian" (Thomas B. Aldrich). "In religion the law is written, and inflexible, never to do evil" (Oliver Goldsmith).
Inelastic refers largely to what will not stretch and spring back without marked physical change: inelastic construction materials.
Tense means stretched tight and figuratively applies to what is marked by tautness or strain: "that tense moment of expectation" (Arnold Bennett).
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Stiff

Stiff\, a. [Compar. Stiffer; superl. Stiffest.] [OE. stif, AS. st[=i]f; akin to D. stijf, G. steif, Dan. stiv, Sw. styf, Icel. st[=i]fr, Lith. stipti to be stiff; cf. L. stipes a post, trunk of a tree, stipare to press, compress. Cf. Costive, Stifle, Stipulate, Stive to stuff.]

1. Not easily bent; not flexible or pliant; not limber or flaccid; rigid; firm; as, stiff wood, paper, joints.

[They] rising on stiff pennons, tower The mid a["e]rial sky. --Milton.

2. Not liquid or fluid; thick and tenacious; inspissated; neither soft nor hard; as, the paste is stiff.

3. Firm; strong; violent; difficult to oppose; as, a stiff gale or breeze.

4. Not easily subdued; unyielding; stubborn; obstinate; pertinacious; as, a stiff adversary.

It is a shame to stand stiff in a foolish argument. --Jer. Taylor.

A war ensues: the Cretans own their cause, Stiff to defend their hospitable laws. --Dryden.

5. Not natural and easy; formal; constrained; affected; starched; as, stiff behavior; a stiff style.

The French are open, familiar, and talkative; the Italians stiff, ceremonious, and reserved. --Addison.

6. Harsh; disagreeable; severe; hard to bear. [Obs. or Colloq.] "This is stiff news." --Shak.

7. (Naut.) Bearing a press of canvas without careening much; as, a stiff vessel; -- opposed to crank. --Totten.

8. Very large, strong, or costly; powerful; as, a stiff charge; a stiff price. [Slang]

Stiff neck, a condition of the neck such that the head can not be moved without difficulty and pain.

Syn: Rigid; inflexible; strong; hardly; stubborn; obstinate; pertinacious; harsh; formal; constrained; affected; starched; rigorous.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : stiff
Spanish: rígido, tieso,
German: steif,
Japanese: こわばった
More Translations »

stiff  (adj.)
O.E. stif "rigid, inflexible," from P.Gmc. *stifaz "inflexible" (cf. Du. stijf, O.H.G. stif, Ger. steif "stiff;" O.N. stifla "choke"), from PIE *stipos-, from root *steip- "press together, pack, cram" (cf. Skt. styayate "coagulates," stima "slow;" Gk. stia, stion "small stone," steibo "press together;" L. stipare "pack down, press," stipes "post, tree trunk;" Lith. stipti "stiffen," stiprus "strong;" O.C.S. stena "wall"). Of battles and competitions, from c.1250; of liquor, from 1813. To keep a stiff upper lip is attested from 1815.

stiff  (v.)
"fail to tip," 1939, originally among restaurant and hotel workers, probably from stiff (n.) in slang sense of "corpse" (corpses don't tip well, either). Extended by 1950 to "cheat."

stiff  (n.)
"corpse," 1859, slang, from stiff (adj.) which had been associated with notion of rigor mortis since c.1200. Meaning "working man" first recorded 1930, from earlier gen. sense of "contemptible person" (1882). Slang meaning "something or someone bound to lose" is 1890 (originally of racehorses), from notion of "corpse."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: stiff
Pronunciation: 'stif
Function: adjective
: lacking in suppleness <stiff muscles> —stiff·ness noun
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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stiff

In addition to the idioms beginning with stiff, also see bore to death (stiff); keep a stiff upper lip; scare out of one's wits (stiff).

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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