Stiff-necked
adj ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Having a stiff neck; suffering from torticollis literally
- 2 Stubborn and arrogant. figuratively
"For the Lord had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee."
- 1 haughtily stubborn wordnet
Example
More examples"For the Lord had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee."
Etymology
From stiff + neck + -ed. (figurative): Calque of Hebrew קשה ערף (Exodus 33). A biblical term similar to Swedish styvnackad, Ancient Greek σκληροτράχηλος (sklērotrákhēlos), Russian жестоковыйный (žestokovyjnyj), German halsstarrig etc.
Related phrases
More for "stiff-necked"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.