stiff
Part of speech: adj
noun
verb
adv
Morphological type: simple
Topics: blackjack
business
cooking
finance
food
games
golf
government
hobbies
lifestyle
martial-arts
mathematics
military
nautical
politics
professional-wrestling
sciences
sports
transport
war
wrestling
Etymology: Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *steyp
Proto-Germanic *stīfaz
Proto-West Germanic *stīf
Old English stīf
Middle English stif
English stiff
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.
Inflected forms:
form: stiffer
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: stiffest
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: stiffs
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: stiffs
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: stiffing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: stiffed
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: stiffed
pos: verb
tags: past
form: more stiff
pos: adv
tags: comparative
form: most stiff
pos: adv
tags: superlative
Senses:
gloss: Rigid; hard to bend; inflexible.
pos: adj
examples: “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.
You have discovered the corpse of Captain Willem of the MSV Majesty. His stiff fingers are wrapped tightly around a small datapad.
gloss: Inflexible; rigid.
pos: adj
tags: figuratively
gloss: Formal in behavior; unrelaxed.
pos: adj
gloss: Harsh, severe.
pos: adj
tags: colloquial
examples: He was eventually caught, and given a stiff fine.
“Yes. I believe she has passed quite a stiff exam.”
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, [...].
gloss: Painful or more rigid than usual as a result of excessive or unaccustomed exercise.
pos: adj
examples: My legs are stiff after climbing that hill yesterday.
gloss: Potent.
pos: adj
examples: a stiff drink; a stiff dose; a stiff breeze
[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.
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!”
gloss: Expensive, pricey.
pos: adj
tags: informal
examples: 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?"
gloss: Dead, deceased.
pos: adj
tags: informal
gloss: Erect.
pos: adj
tags: slang
examples: 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.
gloss: Having a dense consistency; thick; (by extension) Difficult to stir.
pos: adj
examples: Adding too much peanut butter to your Peanut Sauce recipe may cause your sauce to turn out too stiff.
gloss: Beaten until so aerated that they stand up straight on their own.
pos: adj
examples: beat the egg whites until they are stiff
gloss: Of an equation, for which certain numerical solving methods are numerically unstable, unless the step size is taken to be extremely small.
pos: adj
gloss: Keeping upright.
pos: adj
gloss: Of a shot, landing so close to the flagstick that it should be very easy to sink the ball with the next shot.
pos: adj
examples: I go all out, go for the long ball, the stiff shots to the pin, aim for the back of the cup.
gloss: Delivered more forcefully than needed, whether intentionally or accidentally, thus causing legitimate pain to the opponent.
pos: adj
gloss: An average person, usually male, of no particular distinction, skill, or education.
pos: noun
tags: Canada
US
countable
slang
uncountable
examples: working stiff
The clerk shrugged: “That's the boss's little girl.” “Why, the lucky stiff!” said Keating. “He's been holding out on me.” “You misunderstood me,” the clerk said coldly. “It's his daughter. It's Dominique Francon.”
gloss: A person who is deceived, as a mark or pigeon in a swindle.
pos: noun
tags: countable
slang
uncountable
examples: She convinced the stiff to go to her hotel room, where her henchman was waiting to rob him.
gloss: A cadaver; a dead person.
pos: noun
tags: countable
slang
uncountable
examples: This parrot is no more! It has ceased to be! It's expired and gone to meet its maker! This is a late parrot! It's a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed it to the perch it would be pushing up the daisies!
gloss: A flop; a commercial failure.
pos: noun
tags: countable
slang
uncountable
examples: If the movie was a stiff it wasn't any of their specific faults. They were all in it together and they were jobbed in and jobbed out for two weeks and gone and they got a pile of money for their efforts.
They never did sell any records. I don't mean they didn't sell 100,000. I mean they didn't sell 5000. Total. National. Coast-to-coast. The record was a stiff.
gloss: A person who leaves (especially a restaurant) without paying the bill.
pos: noun
tags: US
countable
slang
uncountable
gloss: A customer who does not leave a tip.
pos: noun
tags: US
broadly
countable
slang
uncountable
gloss: Any hard hand where it is possible to exceed 21 by drawing an additional card.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: Negotiable instruments, possibly forged.
pos: noun
tags: countable
slang
uncountable
gloss: A note or letter surreptitiously sent by an inmate.
pos: noun
tags: countable
slang
uncountable
gloss: To fail to pay that which one owes (implicitly or explicitly) to another, especially by departing hastily.
pos: verb
examples: He stiffed me on the tip.
Realizing he had forgotten his wallet, he stiffed the taxi driver when the cab stopped for a red light.
We asked one girl to explain how she felt when she was "stiffed." She said, You think of all the work you've done and how you've tried to please [them…].
gloss: To cheat someone.
pos: verb
examples: You see, poor Nonie really was stiffed by Adolph in his will. He really stiffed her, Rose, and I really wanted to right that wrong.
The Donald moved on to how he had spent £100m on expensive plywood while renovating the golf club. The Scottish tradesmen must have seen him coming. It looks like Trump has been stiffed. So much for the art of the deal.
gloss: To tip ungenerously.
pos: verb
examples: Then he stiffed the waiter with a cheap tip.
gloss: To kill.
pos: verb
tags: slang
examples: But you know it could be a hassle / Trying to explain myself to a police officer / About how it was your old lady got herself stiffed
gloss: To be unsuccessful.
pos: verb
tags: informal
examples: "Come To Me" moved but a few to buy a copy; "My Queen" stiffed in the stall.
gloss: Of the wind, with great force; strongly.
pos: adv
examples: At Feversham was a very High Tide in the Afternoon, tho' the Wind was Southerly, and blew very stiff, which the Seamen there wondered at.
It soon blew stiff, & we scudded before it under double-reefed topsails, & mainsail hauled up.
At about 11.30 am it rained tremendously and blew very stiff.
gloss: Very thoroughly.
pos: adv
tags: dated
slang
examples: Now I want you to take Vallett in hand and drill him stiff with everything that has to do with Tilehurst and Tapsfield.
Synonyms: firm
frozen
hard
hardened
immalleable
inflexible
ossified
petrified
rigid
solid
stark
stubborn
stiff
taut
tight
unbending
unlimber
unyielding
Antonyms: flexible
loose
malleable
slack
soft
Related words: bindlestiff
Derived words: bindle stiff
bored stiff
diabetic stiff hand syndrome
frozen stiff
nonstiff
overstiff
scared stiff
stiff-arm
stiff as a board
stiff as a poker
stiff-backed
stiff cheddar
stiffen
stiff-hearted
stiffish
stiff-leaf goldenrod
stiffleg
stifflike
stiff-lipped
stiff man syndrome
stiff neck
stiffnecked
stiff-necked
stiffness
stiff peak
stiff peaks
stiff-person syndrome
stiff person syndrome
stiff porridge
stiffship
stiff shit
stiff sickness
stiff skin syndrome
Stiff Street
stifftail
stiff-tailed duck
stiff 'un
stiff upper lip
stiffware
stiffy
unstiff
do a bit of stiff
lucky stiff
mission stiff
working stiff
stiff up
Translations:
lang: Assamese
word: থিৰ
roman: thir
lang: Assamese
word: ঠেৰেঙা
roman: thereṅa
lang: Bulgarian
word: корав
roman: korav
lang: Bulgarian
word: нееластичен
roman: neelastičen
lang: Catalan
word: rígid
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 硬
roman: yìng
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 僵硬
roman: jiāngyìng
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 不屈
roman: bùqū
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 不折
lang: Dutch
word: rigide
lang: Dutch
word: stug
lang: Dutch
word: stijf
lang: Finnish
word: jäykkä
lang: French
word: rigide
lang: French
word: raide
lang: Galician
word: irto
lang: Galician
word: rixo
lang: German
word: steif
lang: German
word: starr
lang: Hungarian
word: merev
lang: Italian
word: rigido
lang: Japanese
word: 硬い
roman: katai
lang: Khmer
word: រឹង
roman: rɨng
lang: Korean
word: 딱딱한
roman: ttakttakhan
lang: Latin
word: rigidus
lang: Latin
word: rigēns
lang: Latvian
word: stīvs
lang: Latvian
word: stings
lang: Latvian
word: stingrs
lang: Nepali
word: कडा
roman: kaḍā
lang: Nepali
word: कठोर
roman: kaṭhor
lang: Nepali
word: दह्रो
roman: dahro
lang: Norman
word: rigide
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: stiv
lang: Norwegian Nynorsk
word: stiv
lang: Plautdietsch
word: stiew
lang: Polish
word: sztywny
lang: Portuguese
word: rígido
lang: Portuguese
word: duro
lang: Portuguese
word: inflexível
lang: Portuguese
word: rijo
lang: Portuguese
word: hirto
lang: Portuguese
word: firme
lang: Russian
word: жёсткий
roman: žóstkij
lang: Russian
word: неги́бкий
roman: negíbkij
lang: Russian
word: твёрдый
roman: tvjórdyj
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: rag
lang: Sicilian
word: duru
lang: Sicilian
word: pisanti
lang: Lower Sorbian
word: pšosty
lang: Spanish
word: rígido
lang: Spanish
word: duro
lang: Spanish
word: tieso
lang: Spanish
word: inflexible
lang: Swedish
word: stel
lang: Swedish
word: oböjlig
lang: Thai
word: แข็ง
roman: kɛ̌ng
lang: Unami
word: chinkale
lang: Unami
word: chinkalsi
lang: Vietnamese
word: cứng
lang: Volapük
word: stifik
lang: Welsh
word: anhyblyg
lang: Welsh
word: rhyn