noun, verb ·3 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   An item, material or feature that makes something stiffer.
2. 2
   the act of becoming stiff wordnet
3. 3
   the process of becoming stiff or rigid wordnet

Verb

1. 1
   present participle and gerund of stiffen form-of, gerund, participle, present

Synonyms

All synonyms

arteriosclerosisatherosclerosiscounterweightfixativegyroscopehardening

Example

More examples

"Aghast I stood, tongue-tied, with stiffening hair."

Related phrases

stiffening order

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.