stiff
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /stɪf/
rhymes: -ɪf
Forms: form: stiffer
form: stiffest
Etymology: From Middle English stiff, stiffe, stif, from Old English stīf, from Proto-West Germanic *stīf, from Proto-Germanic *stīfaz, from Proto-Indo-European *steypós.
See also West Frisian stiif, Dutch stijf, Norwegian Bokmål stiv, German steif; also Latin stīpes, stīpō, from which English stevedore.
The expected Modern English form would be /staɪf/; /stɪf/ is probably originally from compounds such as stiffly, where the vowel was shortened before a consonant cluster.
Senses: examples: text: “A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron;[…]. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, and from time to time squinting sideways, as usual, in the ever-renewed expectation that he might catch a glimpse of his stiff, retroussé moustache.
ref: 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter IX, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
text: You have discovered the corpse of Captain Willem of the MSV Majesty. His stiff fingers are wrapped tightly around a small datapad.
ref: 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Xawin:
synonyms: firm
stark
glosses: Rigid; hard to bend; inflexible.
raw_tags: of an object
glosses: Inflexible; rigid.
raw_tags: of policies and rules and their application and enforcement
glosses: Formal in behavior; unrelaxed.
raw_tags: of a person
examples: text: He was eventually caught, and given a stiff fine.
text: “Yes. I believe she has passed quite a stiff exam.”
ref: 1920, Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, London: Pan Books, published 1954, page 124:
text: To fit them for heavy loads on gradients as stiff as 1 in 45 in tropical conditions, these Class 90 diesels embody several unusual features, [...].
ref: 1961 February, “New English Electric diesels for East Africa”, in Trains Illustrated, page 90:
synonyms: brutal
heavy
glosses: Harsh, severe.
examples: text: My legs are stiff after climbing that hill yesterday.
glosses: Painful or more rigid than usual as a result of excessive or unaccustomed exercise.
raw_tags: of muscles or parts of the body
examples: text: a stiff drink; a stiff dose; a stiff breeze
text: [Badminton] was popular in India because of the climate, where it was played outdoors, but in England the stiff breezes made it impossible to play without heavily loaded shuttlecocks.
ref: 1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 134:
text: In the end, perhaps these deflections are easier than confronting the reality and debunking some of the less helpful stories a certain section of England likes to tell about itself. Much easier to just order another stiff one, and raise the old toast: “My country, right or wrong!”
ref: 2023 July 4, Marina Hyde, “Who’s for political Bazball with Rishi? Voters? Tories? Anyone?”, in The Guardian:
synonyms: powerful
strong
glosses: Potent.
examples: text: He had the practised face of a dealer also. But he was a Jew and chaffering was in his blood, and he said, "A bit stiff, isn't it? I mean without a guarantee that it's by the original maker?"
ref: 1950, Norman Lindsay, Dust or Polish?, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 158:
glosses: Expensive, pricey.
synonyms: word: departed
word: no more
word: asleep
word: at rest
word: cadaverous
word: clay-cold
word: deceased
word: resting
word: decomposed
word: defunct
word: departed
word: expired
word: extinct
word: fey
word: gone
word: good
word: inanimate
word: inert
word: kaput
word: late
word: lifeless
word: living impaired
word: low
word: no longer with us
word: no more
word: perished
word: reposing
word: six feet deep
word: six feet under
word: stiff
word: wasted
word: whilom
word: with God
glosses: Dead, deceased.
examples: text: Adieu! faint-hearted instrument of lust; / That falselie hath betrayde our equale trust. / Hence-forth no more will I implore thine ayde, / Or thee, or man of cowardize upbrayde. / My little dilldo shall suply their kinde: / A knaue, that moues as light as leaues by winde; / That bendeth not, nor fouldeth anie deale, / But stands as stiff as he were made of steele; / And playes at peacock twixt my leggs right blythe, / And doeth my tickling swage with manie a sighe. / For, by saint Runnion! he'le refresh me well; / And neuer make my tender bellie swell.
ref: 1592/3, Thomas Nashe, The Choise of Valentines (Poetry), published 1899, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 Feb 2006:
synonyms: hard
tumescent
glosses: Erect.
raw_tags: of the penis
examples: text: Adding too much peanut butter to your Peanut Sauce recipe may cause your sauce to turn out too stiff.
synonyms: word: gooey
word: thickflowing
word: lentous
word: glutinous
word: gooey
word: slabby
word: stiff
word: syrupy
word: thick
word: thickflowing
word: treacly
word: viscid
word: viscose
word: viscous
glosses: Having a dense consistency; thick; (by extension) Difficult to stir.
examples: text: beat the egg whites until they are stiff
topics: cooking
food
lifestyle
glosses: Beaten until so aerated that they stand up straight on their own.
raw_tags: of whipping cream or egg whites
topics: mathematics
sciences
glosses: Of an equation, for which certain numerical solving methods are numerically unstable, unless the step size is taken to be extremely small.
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: Keeping upright.
examples: text: I go all out, go for the long ball, the stiff shots to the pin, aim for the back of the cup.
ref: 1968, William Price Fox, Southern Fried Plus Six: Short Works of Fiction, page 219:
topics: golf
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: Of a shot, landing so close to the flagstick that it should be very easy to sink the ball with the next shot.
topics: government
hobbies
lifestyle
martial-arts
military
politics
professional-wrestling
sports
war
wrestling
glosses: Delivered more forcefully than needed, whether intentionally or accidentally, thus causing legitimate pain to the opponent.
raw_tags: of a strike
Synonyms: word: firm
word: frozen
word: hard
word: hardened
word: immalleable
word: inflexible
word: ossified
word: petrified
word: rigid
word: solid
word: stark
word: stubborn
word: stiff
word: taut
word: tight
word: unbending
word: unlimber
word: unyielding
Hyponyms: word: flaccid
word: starch
word: starched
Derived terms: bindle stiff
bored stiff
diabetic stiff hand syndrome
frozen stiff
scared stiff
stiff-arm
stiff as a board
stiff as a poker
stiff-backed
stiff cheddar
stiff-hearted
stiff-leaf goldenrod
stiff-lipped
stiff man syndrome
stiff neck
stiff-necked
stiff peak
stiff peaks
stiff-person syndrome
stiff person syndrome
stiff porridge
stiff shit
stiff sickness
stiff skin syndrome
Stiff Street
stiff-tailed duck
stiff upper lip
stiffy