stiff

1 of 4

adjective

ˈstif 

1

a

: not easily bent : rigid

a stiff collar

b

: lacking in suppleness or flexibility

stiff muscles

c

: impeded in movement

—used of a mechanism

a truck's stiff suspension

d

: drunk sense 1a

2

a

: firm, resolute

b

: stubborn, unyielding

c

: proud

d(1)

: marked by reserve or decorum

(2)

: lacking in ease or grace : stilted

3

: hard fought

stiff competition

4

a(1)

: exerting great force

a stiff wind

(2)

: forceful, vigorous

b

: potent

poured her a stiff drink

5

: of a dense or glutinous consistency : thick

6

a

: harsh, severe

a stiff penalty

b

: arduous, rugged

stiff terrain

7

: not easily heeled over by an external force (such as the wind)

a stiff ship

8

: expensive, steep

paid a stiff price

stiffish

ˈsti-fish 

adjective

stiffly adverb

stiffness noun

stiff

2 of 4

adverb

1

: in a stiff manner : stiffly

2

: to an extreme degree : severely

scared stiff

bored stiff

3

: close enough to the hole for an easy putt in golf

hit it stiff and tapped it in for an easy birdie

stiff

3 of 4

noun

1

: corpse

2

a

: vagrant, tramp

b

: a member of the working class

especially : a blue-collar worker

c

: person

a lucky stiff

especially : a stodgy or excessively decorous person

3

: flop, failure

stiff

4 of 4

verb

stiffed; stiffing; stiffs

transitive verb

1

a

: to refuse to pay or tip

stiffed the waiter

b

: cheat

stiffed him in a business deal

c

: stick sense 7a

stiffed us with the bar bill

2

: snub sense 3

stiffed sportswriters after the game

intransitive verb

: to fail commercially

the movie stiffed at the box office

Synonyms

Adjective

• inflexible
• rigid
• stiffened
• unyielding

Noun

• bones
• cadaver
• carcass
• corpse
• corpus
• corse [archaic]
• relics
• remains

Verb

• cold-shoulder
• cut
• high-hat
• slight
• snub
• stiff-arm

Choose the Right Synonym for stiff

stiff, rigid, inflexible mean difficult to bend.

stiff may apply to any degree of this condition.

stretching keeps your muscles from becoming stiff

rigid applies to something so stiff that it cannot be bent without breaking.

a rigid surfboard

inflexible stresses lack of suppleness or pliability.

ski boots with inflexible soles

Examples of stiff in a Sentence

Adjective

When I got out of bed this morning my back was stiff as a board.

Beat the egg whites until they are stiff.

Noun

That poor stiff never gets a break.

They have the kind of luxuries the average working stiff can't afford.

Verb

the actress has a reputation for stiffing the press at red-carpet events

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Perhaps most importantly, as Trump backed off from the stiffest tariffs on key U.S. partners. —Spriha Srivastava, CNBC, 27 June 2025

Trump’s 90-day pause on the stiffest tariffs is set to end on July 9. —Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 27 June 2025

Adverb

For many of us, our first exposure to death involved an animal: the firefly in the Mason jar, the bird beneath the window, the deer beside the highway, the beloved cat gone gaunt with age, curled up stiff below the basement stairs. —Kathryn Schulz, The New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2024

The 45,000-piece collection of stiff-looking Trumps in a variety of poses and costumes—like the one shown above—have seen a 445% increase in sales, about $186,000, over the past 24 hours, according to CryptoSlam. —Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune Crypto, 31 Mar. 2023

Noun

Margouleff sat along a wall, posture stiff, restraining himself from saying something about Sites’s jean jacket. —Nick Paumgarten, New Yorker, 19 May 2025

Dressed for the day’s raw weather in a zippered wool jacket and a gray tweed cap, his look was less Oscar and Palme d’Or winner than outer-arrondissement working stiff. —Bruce Handy, New Yorker, 28 Apr. 2025

Verb

The boar bristles are bendy to move with hair but still stiff enough to detangle knots. —Olivia Cigliano, Footwear News, 12 June 2025

The concrete had to be strong enough to withstand all the floors pressing down on one another and stiff enough to hold up against winds that would push against the building during storms. —Dionne Searcey, New York Times, 4 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English stif, from Old English stīf; akin to Middle Dutch stijf stiff, Latin stipare to press together, Greek steibein to tread on

First Known Use

Adjective

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Adverb

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

circa 1859, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1950, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Phrases Containing stiff

• as stiff as a board
• bindle stiff
• frozen stiff
• lucky stiff
• scared stiff
• stiff-arm
• stiff drink
• stiff-necked
• stiff upper lip

Rhymes for stiff

• biff
• cliff
• diff
• glyph
• griff
• if
• riff
• schiff
• skiff
• sniff
• tiff
• whiff

Kids Definition

stiff

1 of 3 adjective

ˈstif 

1

a

: not easily bent : rigid

b

: not easily moved

stiff muscles

stiff valves

2

a

: marked by moral courage

b

: not easy or graceful in manner

3

: hard fought

a stiff fight

4

a

: exerting great force : strong

a stiff wind

b

: potent sense 2b

a stiff dose

5

: not flowing easily : thick

beat egg whites until stiff

6

a

: harsh sense 3, severe

a stiff penalty

b

: rugged

stiff terrain

7

: expensive sense 2, steep

a stiff price

stiffly adverb

stiffness noun

stiff

2 of 3 adverb

1

: in a stiff manner

2

: to a stiff state or condition

frozen stiff

3

: to an extreme degree

bored stiff

stiff

3 of 3 noun

1

: corpse

2

: person

you lucky stiff

Medical Definition

stiff

adjective

ˈstif 

: lacking in suppleness

stiff muscles

stiffness noun