as in to isolate
to deliberately ignore or treat rudely
in his sad and lonely old age, he stiff-armed even once-beloved friends
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Recent Examples of stiff-arm
There’s probably not a football fan alive who doesn’t love to see a ball carrier use a good stiff-arm to knock a defender to the ground.
—
Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 1 Apr. 2025
Canada and Denmark currently offer a striking contrast in playbooks for responding to a suddenly hostile U.S. While Incoming Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is taking a stiff-arm tactic for the moment, others are like the Danes and trying to accommodate Trump’s impulses.
—Philip Elliott, TIME, 11 Mar. 2025
And his actions to stiff-arm Congress by ignoring laws and funding instructions during his 100-day blitz of executive directives have stoked mistrust among Democrats in both chambers.
—Alexis Simendinger, The Hill, 6 Feb. 2025
Daniels mustered an escape with a stiff-arm and lateral burst.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Jan. 2025
Andrew Greif Two stiff-arms and 24 yards later, Philadelphia tight end Dallas Goedert turned a second-and-1 situation into a touchdown for the Eagles.
—NBC News, 13 Jan. 2025
They stiff-arm congressional subpoenas or demands for information with spurious claims of state secrets, executive privilege or unwritten tradition.
—Bruce Fein, Baltimore Sun, 9 Jan. 2025
There was more than a grain of truth to the lament by Pence and company that the Democrats in Washington were stiff-arming comprehensive immigration legislation backed by Republicans and the Trump administration.
—John C. Moritz, Austin American-Statesman, 11 Feb. 2024
Washington’s offense still controlled the ball and clock enough, however, to stiff-arm the Giants’ late push away.
—Pat Leonard, Hartford Courant, 3 Nov. 2024
Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 1 Apr. 2025
Canada and Denmark currently offer a striking contrast in playbooks for responding to a suddenly hostile U.S. While Incoming Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is taking a stiff-arm tactic for the moment, others are like the Danes and trying to accommodate Trump’s impulses.
—Philip Elliott, TIME, 11 Mar. 2025
And his actions to stiff-arm Congress by ignoring laws and funding instructions during his 100-day blitz of executive directives have stoked mistrust among Democrats in both chambers.
—Alexis Simendinger, The Hill, 6 Feb. 2025
Daniels mustered an escape with a stiff-arm and lateral burst.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Jan. 2025
Andrew Greif Two stiff-arms and 24 yards later, Philadelphia tight end Dallas Goedert turned a second-and-1 situation into a touchdown for the Eagles.
—NBC News, 13 Jan. 2025
They stiff-arm congressional subpoenas or demands for information with spurious claims of state secrets, executive privilege or unwritten tradition.
—Bruce Fein, Baltimore Sun, 9 Jan. 2025
There was more than a grain of truth to the lament by Pence and company that the Democrats in Washington were stiff-arming comprehensive immigration legislation backed by Republicans and the Trump administration.
—John C. Moritz, Austin American-Statesman, 11 Feb. 2024
Washington’s offense still controlled the ball and clock enough, however, to stiff-arm the Giants’ late push away.
—Pat Leonard, Hartford Courant, 3 Nov. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stiff-arm
Verb
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Interestingly, research has found that asthmatics tend to have lower levels of IgG. While camel milk is rich in these bioactive compounds, the study didn’t isolate or quantify which specific components were responsible for the observed effects.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
6 July 2025
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Critical flight systems must be isolated from public-facing applications.—
Emil Sayegh,
Forbes.com,
6 July 2025
Verb
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The boar bristles are bendy to move with hair but still stiff enough to detangle knots.—
Olivia Cigliano,
Footwear News,
12 June 2025
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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
Verb
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New York Senator Julia Salazar, who was among the electeds observing hearings Thursday called for New Yorkers to reject what is happening inside lower Manhattan immigration courts.—
Emma Seiwell,
New York Daily News,
5 July 2025
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But her boss rejects her resignation, and offers her a new assignment: find Xavier, the mysterious kingpin whose power reaches all the way to the Oval Office.—
Hunter Ingram,
Variety,
4 July 2025
Verb
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After a disastrous trip to Mexico where Irina appeared repulsed by everything Zack did, the couple split and Zack went crawling back to Bliss.—
Randall Colburn,
EW.com,
13 June 2025
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Clearly repulsed by the ravages of war, Lear kept the girl a secret, presumably went AWOL, and created new identities for them.—
Matt Webb Mitovich,
TVLine,
13 May 2025
Verb
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The chances the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by 50 basis points in December are growing, according to Oxford Economics.—
Danny Bakst,
Fortune,
9 July 2025
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Every first without him will cut especially deep, but there will also be comfort to be gained from being back together at Kirkby.—
James Pearce,
New York Times,
9 July 2025
Verb
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Fill the hot water, add a small amount of dish soap, and a disinfecting spray to repel odors and maintain bacteria at bay.—
Ashlyn Needham,
Southern Living,
11 July 2025
-
The massive aerial assault involved 728 drones and 13 missiles, Ukraine’s Air Force said, eclipsing the previous record number of 539 drones, set on July 4, by hundreds – but it was largely repelled, with the damage limited and no immediate reports of deaths.—
Lex Harvey,
CNN Money,
9 July 2025
Verb
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Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox snubbed him when picking the 1996 and ’97 National League reserves, and Sosa begged out of the ’98 game with a shoulder bruise after being selected as a reserve despite hitting 20 home runs in June.—
Paul Sullivan,
Chicago Tribune,
22 June 2025
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Trump, however, has numbed our senses with endless authoritarian actions that have ignored our Constitution’s checks and balances, weakened our freedoms and snubbed our judicial system.—
Tom Zirpoli,
Baltimore Sun,
22 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Related article Gay rights icon Harvey Milk’s legacy slighted by decision to rename Navy ship Wald says that waiting to transition can create additional psychological distress for a child and can raise their risk of depression, suicidality, self-harm or substance misuse.—
Jen Christensen,
CNN Money,
18 June 2025
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Despite Meg’s efforts to connect, Ellen (Kyra Sedgwick) repeatedly slights her future daughter-in-law.—
Natalia Winkelman,
New York Times,
22 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stiff-arm.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stiff-arm. Accessed 15 Jul. 2025.
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