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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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Slang Dictionary
stiff

  1. mod.
    and stiffed. alcohol intoxicated; dead drunk. : She knows how to stop drinking before she gets stiff.
  2. n.
    a drunkard. : Some stiff staggered by—belching clouds of some beery smell. , The guy's a stiff, and you want to run him for mayor? Even in this town that's going too far.
  3. mod.
    dead. (Originally underworld.) : He's stiff. There's nothing that can be done.
  4. n.
    a corpse. (Underworld.) : They pulled another stiff out of the river last night. Looks like another mob killing.
  5. n.
    a fellow worker; a fellow tramp. (Originally hobos.) : This stiff wants some help finding a flop for the night.
  6. tv.
    to fail to tip someone who expects it. : Ya know, you can tell right away when a guy's gonna stiff you—ya just know. , I guess I get stiffed two, three times a day.
  7. tv.
    to cheat someone. : The clown selling hot dogs stiffed me for about forty cents.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

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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Medical Dictionary

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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Idioms & Phrases

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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