stiff

Meaning

Adj

1. Rigid; hard to bend; inflexible.
2. Inflexible; rigid.
3. Formal in behavior; unrelaxed.
4. (colloquial) Harsh, severe.
5. Painful or more rigid than usual as a result of excessive or unaccustomed exercise.
6. Potent.
7. (informal) Dead, deceased.
8. (slang) Erect.
9. Having a dense consistency; thick; (by extension) Difficult to stir.
10. Beaten until so aerated that they stand up straight on their own.
11. Of an equation, for which certain numerical solving methods are numerically unstable, unless the step size is taken to be extremely small.
12. Keeping upright.
13. Of a shot, landing so close to the flagstick that it should be very easy to sink the ball with the next shot.
14. Delivered more forcefully than needed, whether intentionally or accidentally, thus causing legitimate pain to the opponent.

Noun

1. (slang) An average person, usually male, of no particular distinction, skill, or education.
2. (slang) A person who is deceived, as a mark or pigeon in a swindle.
3. (slang) A cadaver; a dead person.
4. (slang) A flop; a commercial failure.
5. (slang) A person who leaves (especially a restaurant) without paying the bill.
6. (slang) A customer who does not leave a tip.
7. Any hard hand where it is possible to exceed 21 by drawing an additional card.
8. (slang) Negotiable instruments, possibly forged.
9. (slang) A note or letter surreptitiously sent by an inmate.

Verb

1. To fail to pay that which one owes (implicitly or explicitly) to another, especially by departing hastily.
2. To cheat someone
3. To tip ungenerously.
4. (slang) To kill.
5. (informal) To be unsuccessful.

Adv

Of the wind, with great force; strongly.

Concepts

stiff

rigid

hard

firm

solid

inflexible

tight

tough

cadaver

corpse

strong

dead body

remains

numb

formal

carcass

clay

harsh

body

steadfast

tense

severe

strict

starchy

awkward

thick

unyielding

unbending

stubborn

stringent

rough

buckram

potent

steady

stern

heavy

straight

fast

steep

constrained

taut

prim

stiffly

unbendable

unshakable

unwavering

crisp

obstinate

stilted

stiffen

convulse

cramp

resolute

unflinching

abrupt

obdurate

clumsy

tenacious

wooden

ceremonious

sticky

austere

dense

hardened

dull

rugged

starched

besotted

blind drunk

blotto

cockeyed

crocked

fuddled

loaded

pie-eyed

pissed

pixilated

plastered

slopped

sloshed

smashed

soaked

soused

sozzled

squiffy

wet

unfaltering

dry

inelastic

haughty

paralysed

stark

frozen to death

callous

steely

be hard

difficult

tired

stretched out

unmalleable

big

intense

keen

loud

sharp

acute

lignified

spasm

numbness

durable

lie flat

stable

offhand

offhanded

hard-headed

crude

unrefined

narrow

uneasy

unpolished

persistent

rocklike

rigorous

serious

compact

massive

fixed

decorous

prudish

strait-laced

be cold

substance

boardy

chilly

fresh

rectangular

reedy

smug

standfast

arduous

laborious

toilsome

laboured

expensive

intoxicated

drunk

unlucky

paper

money

tramp

vagabond

drunkard

wastrel

waster

adhesive

cohesive

gluey

glutinous

gummy

hesitating

plastic

slow

viscous

authoritative

numb with weariness

insensible

numbed

attenuated

rocky

stiff necked

unbowed

bloody-minded

cold-hearted

cruel

crusty

flinty

scirrhous

stony

stubbed

stubbly

truculent

tetanic

nonelastic

unelastic

measured

erect

gait

very stiff

dead

rheumatic

of the body

swell

reserved

motionless

aching

cramped

become erect

stuffy

gawky

stiff-backed

wiry

everyman

ham-handed

ungainly

bad

ball-breaker

ball-buster

bitter

blistering

brutal

dour

flint

hard-core

hardcore

inexorable

iron

ruffianly

stone

tall

unforgiving

unrelenting

fellow

gent

hubby

male

man

form-only

formalised

formalistic

procedural

carrion

roadkill

acerb

acerbic

acuate

beaked

biting

bold

bright

clear

cutting

discriminative

fly

fulgurating

incisive

ingenious

mordacious

mordant

peaked

peaky

perceptive

perspicacious

piercing

pointed

pungent

quick-witted

ready

salty

shrill

slick

smart

spiky

strident

tart

trenchant

bearing

hearty

heavy-duty

stocky

stodgy

stout

sturdy

substantial

supporting

able

athletic

concentrated

cordial

deep

exquisite

forceful

mighty

orotund

powerful

puissant

racy

red-blooded

robust

conventional

prissy

brave

frozen

stiff with cold

petrified

unrelaxed

transfixed

off-hand

off-handed

stunned

heartless

inanimate

insensate

insensitive

lifeless

soulless

spiritless

unfeeling

vapid

jellied

set

stiffness

running

walking

careful

stingy

not natural

doggedly

resolutely

kite

Aas

carcase

unbent

arrive

Pronounced as (IPA)

/stɪf/

Etymology

From Middle English stiff, stiffe, stif, from Old English stīf, from Proto-West Germanic *stīf, from Proto-Germanic *stīfaz, from Proto-Indo-European *steypós.
See also West Frisian stiif, Dutch stijf, Norwegian Bokmål stiv, German steif; also Latin stīpes, stīpō, from which English stevedore.
The expected Modern English form would be /staɪf/; /stɪf/ is probably originally from compounds such as stiffly, where the vowel was shortened before a consonant cluster.