stiff-arming

verb

present participle of stiff-arm
as in isolating
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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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of stiff-arming The next game, stiff-arming guys. — Sean Joseph Outkick, FOXNews.com, 27 May 2026 After stiff-arming challengers on the front 9, Cink played free and easy. — Jay Paris, Oc Register, 30 Mar. 2026 The 24-song set reeled in an impressive 280,000 equivalent album units, stiff-arming a surging Bad Bunny from pole position. — Carl Lamarre, Billboard, 19 Feb. 2026 Indiana kept its circle tight and held its belief tighter, stiff-arming infiltrators and doubters with equal authority. — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 20 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stiff-arming
  1. isolating
  2. rejecting
  3. snubbing
  4. repulsing
  5. cutting
  6. repelling
  7. slighting
Verb
  • Fatal Influence sprinted out to a lead by isolating their opponents and thrashing them on the outside.
    — Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026
  • The footage of Anna, for instance, is made public in an incredibly awkward way, further isolating her from her friends.
    — Andrew Webster, The Verge, 31 July 2026
Definition of isolating
Verb
  • Many residents are balking at that timing and at Ryan’s lawsuit against Killingly’s wetlands board for rejecting the first version of the plan on July 6.
    — Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Roster movement in both directions has been constant this year, from The New Day's exit to a former champion reportedly leaving after rejecting a new deal to the April release of 11 former champions.
    — Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of rejecting
Verb
  • When Mamdani broke with decades of mayoral tradition by snubbing the Israel Day Parade at the end of May and refusing to march in it, Tisch proudly represented the city at the event.
    — Nicholas Williams, New York Daily News, 19 July 2026
  • Over the years, the Oscars have garnered a reputation for snubbing studio tentpoles from consideration in above-the-line categories.
    — Sophia Morano, Forbes.com, 23 June 2026
Definition of snubbing
Verb
  • While there are dismemberments and other bits of gruesome violence to be found in the film, Badlands is largely aimed at endearing its audience rather than repulsing them.
    — Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 4 Nov. 2025
Definition of repulsing
Verb
  • When cutting them back in the fall for the winter, leave a few branches for wildlife to use for protection, but be sure to remove all of the dead branches to reduce the risk of diseases.
    — Andrea Beck, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Broadcasters of all sizes, especially local station owners, have been battling cord-cutting and coping with ongoing audience and advertiser shifts away from linear viewing.
    — Dade Hayes, Deadline, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of cutting
Verb
  • The meager platoon was a consolation from Lord Borros, who claims to be too busy repelling the Dornish to come to his queen’s aid.
    — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 27 July 2026
  • We Baltimoreans treasure the role the 1814 battle played in repelling the mighty British forces, which were forced to abandon their siege of Fort McHenry.
    — Michel A. Ibrahim, Baltimore Sun, 25 July 2026
Definition of repelling
Verb
  • But in discharging this function, poets are in danger of slighting another imperative, namely, to redress poetry as poetry, to set it up as its own category, an eminence established and a pressure exercised by distinctly linguistic means.
    — Nick Laird, The New York Review of Books, 25 Apr. 2026
  • The subtext to the litigation is Oakley’s personal grievance against Dolan, whom the ex-player has long criticized, in part for slighting him compared to other Knicks legends.
    — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 3 Nov. 2025
Definition of slighting

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Cite this Entry

“Stiff-arming.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stiff-arming. Accessed 9 Aug. 2026.

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