stiff

(stĭf)
adj., stiff·er, stiff·est.

1. Difficult to bend; rigid.
2. 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. Drawn tightly; taut.
4. 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. Slang, stiffed, stiff·ing, stiffs.

1. To tip (someone) inadequately or not at all, as for a service rendered: paid the dinner check but stiffed the waiter.
2. 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.]

stiffish stiff'ish adj.
stiffly stiff'ly adv.
stiffness stiff'ness n.

SYNONYMS   stiff, rigid, inflexible, inelastic, tense. 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).

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Failure to pay for services rendered; for example, stiffing a waiter by not leaving a tip.

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adjective

1. Not changing shape or bending: inelastic, inflexible, rigid, unbending, unyielding. See flexible/rigid.
2. Stretched tightly: taut, tense, tight. See tighten/loosen.
3. So rigidly constrained, formal, or awkward as to lack all grace and spontaneity: buckram, starchy, stilted, wooden. See flexible/rigid.
4. Indicating or possessing determination, resolution, or persistence: constant, determined, firm¹, resolute, steadfast, steady, tough, unbending, uncompromising, unflinching, unwavering, unyielding. See purpose/purposelessness.
5. Having a high concentration of the distinguishing ingredient: concentrated, potent, strong. See strong/weak.
6. Vastly exceeding a normal limit, as in cost: sky-high, steep¹, stratospheric, unconscionable. See big/small/amount, usual/unusual.

noun

1. The physical frame of a dead person or animal: body, cadaver, carcass, corpse, remains. See body/spirit.
2. A person who is habitually drunk: drunk, drunkard, inebriate, sot, tippler. Slang boozehound, boozer, lush², rummy¹, soak, souse, sponge. See drugs/temperance.
3. A stingy person: miser, niggard, Scrooge, skinflint. Informal penny pincher. Slang cheapskate, tightwad. See give/take/reciprocity.

Idioms beginning with stiff:
stiff upper lip
stiff as a board

See also bore to death (stiff); keep a stiff upper lip; scare out of one's wits (stiff).

adj

Definition: difficult
Antonyms: easy

adj

Definition: extreme, severe
Antonyms: calm, gentle, mild, moderate, normal

adj

Definition: formal, standoffish
Antonyms: casual, graceful, informal, relaxed

adj

Definition: hard, inflexible
Antonyms: flexible, pliable, pliant, soft

IN BRIEF: Being rigid in action.

After sitting so long, she got up stiffly.

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Stiffness may represent some aspect of the dreamer's personality or disposition, or that of someone else in the dreamer's life.

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adjective
adjective, US

1: Drunk. (1737 —) .
G. V. Higgins I always got stiff on the Fourth because it was the only way I could listen to all that crap (1975).

2: Austral and NZ Unlucky. (1918 —) .
R. Boyd I recall...a waiter...responding to my circumspect enquiry about the possibility of a glass of wine with the succinct phrase: 'I think you'll be stiff, mate' (1960). noun

3: A corpse. (1859 —) .
T. Pynchon Ten thousand stiffs humped under the snow in the Ardennes take on the sunny Disneyfied look of numbered babies under white wool blankets (1973).

4: orig US A foolish, useless, or disagreeable person. (1882 —) .
Sun A bad customer...a stiff who orders the table d'hote and nothing to drink (1967).

5: orig US A poor competitor, a certain loser; spec. a racehorse which is unlikely (or not intended) to win. (a.1890 —) .
Sun (Baltimore): We either get shut out or find we are on a stiff which won't run (1944).

6: dated Money. (1897 —) .
H. Belloc He wrang his hands, exclaiming, 'If I only had a bit of Stiff How different would be my life!' (1930).

7: A penniless man; a tramp; a migratory or unskilled worker. (1899 —) .
E. Ward The driver...reached out to pull Burnett into the dusty cab. Construction stiff. A wandering freemasonry (1976).

8: A drunkard. (1907 —) .
N. Thornburg It had taken a good part of the day just to locate the poor stiff (1976).

9: orig US A commercial venture (esp. in the entertainment business) which merits or meets with public indifference; a flop. (1937 —) .
American Weekly Juggy listened to the tune and was disheartened. 'It's a stiff,' he said—meaning that it was no good (1949).

10: football A member of the reserve team; usu. in pl. (1950 —) .
Sun Gunners sign Metchick for stiffs (1970).

11: An erection of the penis. (1980 —) . verb trans.

12: orig and mainly US To cheat; to refuse to pay or tip. (1950 —) .
Washington Post Instead of stiffing his servers, McCarthy should be stiffing their employers (1982).

13: To kill, to murder. (1974 —) .
C. Egleton Did she blow their cover too? Is that how they got stiffed in Prague? (1978). See also working stiff noun.

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Half way to rigidity, tetany; result of insufficient use of the part.

For a list of words related to stiff, see:

• General Sports Terminology
• Drinking Terms - stiff: (adj) strong, in describing drink; high in alcoholic content
• Maximizers and Superlatives
• Behavior or Personality
• Cold, Unfriendly, Irritable, or Cruel
• Dominant, Stubborn, Proud, or Confident
• Inert, Lazy, Tired, or Insensate
• Proper, Courteous, Refined, or Puritanical
• Dead Bodies - stiff: Slang. corpse

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See words rhyming with "stiffish."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Stiff.

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - stiv, tvungen, hårdnakket, bestemt, vanskelig, anstrengende, skrap
n. - lig, kadaver
v. tr. - snyde for drikkepenge
adv. - stift, tvungent, hårdnakket, bestemt, vanskeligt, skrapt

Nederlands (Dutch)
stijf, stroef, onbuigzaam, sterk, lijk, kerel

Français (French)
adj. - (gén) raide, courbaturé, dur à ouvrir, dur à manier, dur à passer (une vitesse), rigide, (Culin) consistant, ferme, compassé, sévère, difficile (un examen), rude (une compétition), fort (une opposition), élevé (une amende), (US) bourré
n. - macchabée, rabat-joie, (US) travailleur, (US) poivrot, (US) clochard
v. tr. - (US) arnaquer (qn), ne pas laisser de pourboire à (qn)
adv. - mortellement, terriblement

Deutsch (German)
adj. - steif, stark, hart, starr, hartnäckig
n. - (Slang) Leiche
adv. - sehr
v. - betrügen, Zahlung verweigern

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - σκληρός, δύσκαμπτος, αλύγιστος, μουδιασμένος, πιασμένος, δυνατός, αυστηρός, (για τιμή) ακριβός, (για ποτό) δυνατός, (για ποινή κ.λπ.) αυστηρός
n. - (αργκό) κουφάρι, πτώμα, βλάκας, μπουμπουνοκέφαλος
adv. - πάρα πολύ
v. - (καθομ.) εξαπατώ, κατακλέβω

Italiano (Italian)
cadavere, inflessibile, rigido, contegnoso, goffo

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - rígido
adv. - extremamente

Русский (Russian)
жесткий, застывший, напряженный, плохо действующий, густой, упорный, неловкий, чопорный, трудный, устойчивый, чрезмерный (о требованиях), до изнеможения, не сгибаясь, вексель, поддельная банкнота, тайное письмо, бродяга, зануда, труп

Español (Spanish)
adj. - rígido, almidonado, entumecido, tieso, anquilosado, ceremonioso, etiquetero, inflexible, duro
n. - persona tiesa, estirada, cadáver, caballo que no corre
v. tr. - atiesar, dar rigidez, endurecer, dar firmeza, armar, reforzar, envarar, entumir
adv. - tiesamente, rígidamente, tercamente, torpemente

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - styv, oböjlig, stram, hård, stark, ansträngande, formell
n. - lik, kadaver, döddansare, lodare, fyllo, falsk check, fiasko
adv. - tråka ut
v. - att luras

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
硬的, 僵直的, 僵硬的, 挺的, 不易移动的, 不灵活的, 死尸, 钞票, 醉鬼, 不肯付, 僵硬地, 彻底地

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 硬的, 僵直的, 僵硬的, 挺的, 不易移動的, 不靈活的
n. - 死屍, 鈔票, 醉鬼
v. tr. - 不肯付
adv. - 僵硬地, 徹底地

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 뻣뻣한, (조류, 바람 등이) 거센, 단호한
n. - 위조수표, 시체, 주정뱅이
v. tr. - 뻣뻣해지다, 단호하다
adv. - 경직되어, 완전히

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 堅い, 凝った, 滑らかに動かない, 堅苦しい, ぎこちない, 堅練りの, 強い, アルコール分が強い, 難しい
n. - 浮浪者
adv. - すっかり

idioms:

• stiff upper lip    決然たる態度

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) صلب, جامد, صارم, جاف, قوي, شديد (الاسم) جثه (ظرف) ال حد بعيد, كثيرا جدا (فعل) يقتل‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮קשה, קשוח, לא גמיש, קשה להזיז, צונן, מאופק, לא חברותי, מסוייג, מפרך, מאמץ, כואב, חזק, עז‬
n. - ‮גופה, גווייה, אדם חסר-תועלת, טיפש‬
v. tr. - ‮רימה (עגה)‬
adv. - ‮מאוד, כליל, עד מוות‬

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