| English Dictionary |
STIFF
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does stiff mean?
• STIFF (noun)
The noun STIFF has 2 senses:
1. an ordinary man
2. the dead body of a human being
Familiarity information: STIFF used as a noun is rare.
• STIFF (adjective)
The adjective STIFF has 7 senses:
1. not moving or operating freely
2. powerful
3. rigidly formal
4. having a strong physiological or chemical effect
5. marked by firm determination or resolution; not shakable
6. incapable of or resistant to bending
7. very drunk
Familiarity information: STIFF used as an adjective is common.
• STIFF (adverb)
The adverb STIFF has 2 senses:
1. extremely
2. in a stiff manner
Familiarity information: STIFF used as an adverb is rare.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
An ordinary man
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Context example:
a working stiff
Hypernyms ("stiff" is a kind of...):
adult male; man (an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman))
Sense 2
Meaning:
The dead body of a human being
Classified under:
Nouns denoting body parts
Synonyms:
cadaver; clay; corpse; remains; stiff
Context example:
honor comes to bless the turf that wraps their clay
Hypernyms ("stiff" is a kind of...):
body; dead body (a natural object consisting of a dead animal or person)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "stiff"):
cremains (the remains of a dead body after cremation)
Domain usage:
slang (a characteristic language of a particular group (as among thieves))
| Declension: comparative and superlative |
Superlative: stiffest
Sense 1
Meaning:
Not moving or operating freely
Context example:
a stiff hinge
Similar:
immobile (not capable of movement or of being moved)
Derivation:
stiffness (the physical property of being inflexible and hard to bend)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Powerful
Context example:
a stiff breeze
Similar:
strong (having strength or power greater than average or expected)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Rigidly formal
Synonyms:
Context example:
his prose has a buckram quality
Similar:
formal (being in accord with established forms and conventions and requirements (as e.g. of formal dress))
Derivation:
stiffness (the inelegance of someone stiff and unrelaxed (as by embarrassment))
Sense 4
Meaning:
Having a strong physiological or chemical effect
Synonyms:
Context example:
a stiff drink
Similar:
equipotent (having equal strength or efficacy)
multipotent (able to many things)
Also:
effective; effectual; efficacious (producing or capable of producing an intended result or having a striking effect)
fertile (capable of reproducing)
powerful (having great power or force or potency or effect)
Attribute:
effectiveness; potency; strength (capacity to produce strong physiological or chemical effects)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Marked by firm determination or resolution; not shakable
Synonyms:
firm; steadfast; steady; stiff; unbendable; unfaltering; unshakable; unwavering
Context example:
unwavering loyalty
Similar:
resolute (firm in purpose or belief; characterized by firmness and determination)
Derivation:
stiffness (firm resoluteness in purpose or opinion or action)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Incapable of or resistant to bending
Synonyms:
rigid; stiff
Context example:
a stiff neck
Similar:
inflexible (resistant to being bent)
Derivation:
stiffness (the property of moving with pain or difficulty)
stiffness (the physical property of being inflexible and hard to bend)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Very drunk
Synonyms:
besotted; blind drunk; blotto; cockeyed; crocked; fuddled; loaded; pie-eyed; pissed; pixilated; plastered; slopped; sloshed; smashed; soaked; soused; sozzled; squiffy; stiff; tight; wet
Similar:
drunk; gone; inebriated; intoxicated; ripped (stupefied or excited by a chemical substance (especially alcohol))
Domain usage:
argot; cant; jargon; lingo; patois; slang; vernacular (a characteristic language of a particular group (as among thieves))
Sense 1
Meaning:
Extremely
Context example:
frightened stiff
Sense 2
Meaning:
In a stiff manner
Synonyms:
stiff; stiffly
Context example:
his hands lay stiffly
Context examples
It causes swollen, red, hot and stiff joints.
(Gout, NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases)
Never till I'm stiff and old and have to use a crutch.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
In its early stages, you may have flu-like symptoms and a stiff neck.
(Meningococcal Infections, NIH)
“Give me the key,” said my mother; and though the lock was very stiff, she had turned it and thrown back the lid in a twinkling.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
Instead, a stiffer material, most likely water-ice, created the peaks.
(The Icy Mountains of Pluto, NASA)
He was evidently unused to stiff collars.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
The storm had evidently broken during the night, though a huge sea was still running and a stiff wind blowing.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
“Pretty stiff in the back?” said he, making himself upright.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
This can cause the organs to become stiff and unable to work the way they should.
(Amyloidosis, NIH)
He looked up at the ceiling, back at the closed door, and round at the stiff folds of motionless tapestry.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
| Learn English with... Proverbs |
"Those who lost dreaming are lost." (Aboriginal Australian proverbs)
"For the sake of the flowers, the weeds are watered." (Arabic proverb)
"Next to fire, straw isn't good." (Corsican proverb)