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
  • But being a teenager can be isolating, confusing, and an emotional rollercoaster—and what can start as an attempt to find friends can quickly spiral into an unhealthy obsession.
    — Sherri Gordon, Parents, 10 July 2026
  • It’s designed to focus on facial features, isolating every muscle.
    — Joy Press, Vanity Fair, 6 July 2026
Definition of isolating
Verb
  • Additional programmable keys can be assigned to common functions such as push-to-talk, sending prompts, or accepting and rejecting code changes.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 15 July 2026
  • One of these, according to Valdés Ugalde, has been rejecting extradition requests for politicians allegedly linked to drug trafficking on the grounds of national sovereignty.
    — Mauricio Torres, CNN Money, 12 July 2026
Definition of rejecting
Verb
  • 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
  • In all three races, Mamdani rolled the political dice by snubbing powerful establishment Democratic figures and flexing his own electoral muscle.
    — Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 22 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
  • The vibes at Wrigley should be stellar this weekend as the Champions Gate at Gallagher Way will be unveiled before Saturday’s game with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
    — LaMond Pope, Chicago Tribune, 17 July 2026
  • Rather than report on every float in this parade of horribles, the Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed and hirsute higher education observer Bryan Alexander have started cost-cutting trackers.
    — Ryan Craig, Forbes.com, 17 July 2026
Definition of cutting
Verb
  • During the Iran-Iraq War of 1980–88, which Khomeini prolonged for several years after repelling the Iraqi invasion, a disproportionate burden fell on Iranians in the southwestern and western provinces.
    — Arash Azizi, The Atlantic, 17 July 2026
  • Some of these hacks include mixing baking soda and sugar, putting bay leaves around cabinets and under appliances and repelling roaches with essential oils.
    — Faith Wakefield, USA Today, 16 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

Browse Nearby Words

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Cite this Entry

“Stiff-arming.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stiff-arming. Accessed 19 Jul. 2026.

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