Wiktionary

stiff

See also: Stiff

EnglishEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Middle English stiff, stiffe, stif, from Old English stīf, from Proto-Germanic *stīfaz (compare West Frisian stiif, Dutch stijf, Norwegian Bokmål stiv, German steif), from Proto-Indo-European *steypós (compare Latin stīpes, stīpō, from which English stevedore).

PronunciationEdit

  • IPA(key): /stɪf/
  • Audio (US)
    		(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪf

AdjectiveEdit

stiff (comparative stiffer, superlative stiffest)

  1. (of an object) Rigid; hard to bend; inflexible.
    • 1907, Robert William Chambers, chapter IX, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 24962326:
      “A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron; […]. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, and from time to time squinting sideways, as usual, in the ever-renewed expectation that he might catch a glimpse of his stiff, retroussé moustache.
  2. (figurative, of policies and rules and their application and enforcement) Inflexible; rigid.
  3. (of a person) Formal in behavior; unrelaxed.
  4. (colloquial) Harsh, severe.
    He was eventually caught, and given a stiff fine.
    • 1961 February, “New English Electric diesels for East Africa”, in Trains Illustrated, page 90:
      To fit them for heavy loads on gradients as stiff as 1 in 45 in tropical conditions, these Class 90 diesels embody several unusual features, [...].
  5. (of muscles or parts of the body) Painful as a result of excessive or unaccustomed exercise.
    My legs are stiff after climbing that hill yesterday.
  6. Potent.
    a stiff drink; a stiff dose; a stiff breeze.
  7. Dead, deceased.
  8. (of a penis) Erect.
  9. (cooking, of whipping cream or egg whites) Beaten until so aerated that they stand up straight on their own.
    beat the egg whites until they are stiff
  10. (mathematics) Of an equation: for which certain numerical solving methods are numerically unstable, unless the step size is taken to be extremely small.
  11. (nautical) Keeping upright.

QuotationsEdit

Derived termsEdit

TranslationsEdit

of muscles, or parts of the body
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

NounEdit

stiff (countable and uncountable, plural stiffs)

  1. (slang) An average person, usually male, of no particular distinction, skill, or education, often a working stiff or lucky stiff.
    A Working Stiff's Manifesto: A Memoir of Thirty Jobs I Quit, Nine That Fired Me, and Three I Can't Remember was published in 2003.
  2. (slang) A person who is deceived, as a mark or pigeon in a swindle.
    She convinced the stiff to go to her hotel room, where her henchman was waiting to rob him.
  3. (slang) A cadaver; a dead person.
    • 1969 December 7, John Cleese as Mr Praline, “Full Frontal Nudity, Dead Parrot sketch”, in Monty Python's Flying Circus:
      This parrot is no more! It has ceased to be! It's expired and gone to meet its maker! This is a late parrot! It's a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed it to the perch it would be pushing up the daisies!
  4. (slang) A flop; a commercial failure.
    • 1994, Andy Dougan, The actors' director: Richard Attenborough behind the camera (page 63)
      If the movie was a stiff it wasn't any of their specific faults. They were all in it together and they were jobbed in and jobbed out for two weeks and gone and they got a pile of money for their efforts.
    • 2016, Ralph J. Gleason, ‎Toby Gleason, Music in the Air: The Selected Writings of Ralph J. Gleason
      They never did sell any records. I don't mean they didn't sell 100,000. I mean they didn't sell 5000. Total. National. Coast-to-coast. The record was a stiff.
  5. (US, slang) A person who leaves (especially a restaurant) without paying the bill.
  6. (US, slang, by extension) A customer who does not leave a tip.
  7. (blackjack) Any hard hand where it is possible to exceed 21 by drawing an additional card.
  8. (finance, slang) Negotiable instruments, possibly forged.

See alsoEdit

 
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

TranslationsEdit

Derived termsEdit

VerbEdit

stiff (third-person singular simple present stiffs, present participle stiffing, simple past and past participle stiffed)

  1. To fail to pay that which one owes (implicitly or explicitly) to another, especially by departing hastily.
    Realizing he had forgotten his wallet, he stiffed the taxi driver when the cab stopped for a red light.
    • 1946, William Foote Whyte, Industry and Society, page 129
      We asked one girl to explain how she felt when she was "stiffed." She said, You think of all the work you've done and how you've tried to please [them…].
  2. to cheat someone
    • 1992, Stephen Birmingham, Shades of Fortune, page 451
      You see, poor Nonie really was stiffed by Adolph in his will. He really stiffed her, Rose, and I really wanted to right that wrong.
  3. to tip ungenerously
    • 2007, Mary Higgins Clark, I Heard That Song Before, page 154
      Then he stiffed the waiter with a cheap tip.

TranslationsEdit

AnagramsEdit

Middle EnglishEdit

AdjectiveEdit

stiff

  1. Alternative form of stif

AdverbEdit

stiff

  1. Alternative form of stif
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