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Stiff

//stɪf// adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Adjective

1
Rigid; hard to bend; inflexible.
"“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
Inflexible; rigid. figuratively
3
Formal in behavior; unrelaxed.
4
Harsh, severe. colloquial
"He was eventually caught, and given a stiff fine."
5
Painful or more rigid than usual as a result of excessive or unaccustomed exercise.
"My legs are stiff after climbing that hill yesterday."

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6
Potent.
"a stiff drink; a stiff dose; a stiff breeze"
7
Expensive, pricey. informal
"He had the practised face of a dealer also. But he was a Jew and chaffering was in his blood, and he said, "A bit stiff, isn't it? I mean without a guarantee that it's by the original maker?""
8
Dead, deceased. informal
9
Erect. slang
"Adieu! faint-hearted instrument of lust; / That falselie hath betrayde our equale trust. / Hence-forth no more will I implore thine ayde, / Or thee, or man of cowardize upbrayde. / My little dilldo shall suply their kinde: / A knaue, that moues as light as leaues by winde; / That bendeth not, nor fouldeth anie deale, / But stands as stiff as he were made of steele; / And playes at peacock twixt my leggs right blythe, / And doeth my tickling swage with manie a sighe. / For, by saint Runnion! he'le refresh me well; / And neuer make my tender bellie swell."
10
Having a dense consistency; thick; (by extension) Difficult to stir.
"Adding too much peanut butter to your Peanut Sauce recipe may cause your sauce to turn out too stiff."
11
Beaten until so aerated that they stand up straight on their own.
"beat the egg whites until they are stiff"
12
Of an equation, for which certain numerical solving methods are numerically unstable, unless the step size is taken to be extremely small.
13
Keeping upright.
14
Of a shot, landing so close to the flagstick that it should be very easy to sink the ball with the next shot.
"I go all out, go for the long ball, the stiff shots to the pin, aim for the back of the cup."
15
Delivered more forcefully than needed, whether intentionally or accidentally, thus causing legitimate pain to the opponent.

Adjective

1
very drunk wordnet
2
incapable of or resistant to bending wordnet
3
rigidly formal wordnet
4
not moving or operating freely wordnet
5
having a strong physiological or chemical effect wordnet

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6
marked by firm determination or resolution; not shakable wordnet
7
strong, vigorous wordnet

Adverb

1
Of the wind, with great force; strongly.
"At Feversham was a very High Tide in the Afternoon, tho' the Wind was Southerly, and blew very stiff, which the Seamen there wondered at."

Adverb

1
in a stiff manner wordnet
2
to a great degree wordnet

Proper Noun

1
A surname.

Noun

1
An average person, usually male, of no particular distinction, skill, or education. Canada, US, countable, slang, uncountable
"working stiff"
2
the dead body of a human being wordnet
3
A person who is deceived, as a mark or pigeon in a swindle. countable, slang, uncountable
"She convinced the stiff to go to her hotel room, where her henchman was waiting to rob him."
4
an ordinary man wordnet
5
A cadaver; a dead person. countable, slang, uncountable
"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!"

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6
A flop; a commercial failure. countable, slang, uncountable
"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."
7
A person who leaves (especially a restaurant) without paying the bill. US, countable, slang, uncountable
8
A customer who does not leave a tip. US, broadly, countable, slang, uncountable
9
Any hard hand where it is possible to exceed 21 by drawing an additional card. countable, uncountable
10
Negotiable instruments, possibly forged. countable, slang, uncountable
11
A note or letter surreptitiously sent by an inmate. countable, slang, uncountable

Verb

1
To fail to pay that which one owes (implicitly or explicitly) to another, especially by departing hastily.
"He stiffed me on the tip."
2
To cheat someone.
"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.
"Then he stiffed the waiter with a cheap tip."
4
To kill. slang
"But you know it could be a hassle / Trying to explain myself to a police officer / About how it was your old lady got herself stiffed"
5
To be unsuccessful. informal
""Come To Me" moved but a few to buy a copy; "My Queen" stiffed in the stall."

Etymology

Etymology 1

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.

Etymology 2

Etymology 3

Etymology 4

Etymology 5

English surname, from the adjective stiff.

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