— stiffish , adj. — stiffly , adv. — stiffness , n.
/stif/ , adj., stiffer, stiffest , n., adv., v.
adj.
1. rigid or firm; difficult or impossible to bend or flex: a stiff collar.
2. not moving or working easily: The motor was a little stiff from the cold weather.
3. (of a person or animal) not supple; moving with difficulty, as from cold, age, exhaustion, or injury.
4. strong; forceful; powerful: stiff winds; The fighter threw a stiff right to his opponent's jaw.
5. strong or potent to the taste or system, as a beverage or medicine: He was cold and wanted a good stiff drink.
6. resolute; firm in purpose; unyielding; stubborn.
7. stubbornly continued: a stiff battle.
8. firm against any tendency to decrease, as stock-market prices.
9. rigidly formal; cold and unfriendly, as people, manners, or proceedings.
10. lacking ease and grace; awkward: a stiff style of writing.
11. excessively regular or formal, as a design; not graceful in form or arrangement.
12. laborious or difficult, as a task.
13. severe or harsh, as a penalty or demand.
14. excessive; unusually high or great: $50 is pretty stiff to pay for that.
15. firm from tension; taut: to keep a stiff rein.
16. relatively firm in consistency, as semisolid matter; thick: a stiff jelly; a stiff batter.
17. dense or compact; not friable: stiff soil.
18. Naut. (of a vessel) having a high resistance to rolling; stable (opposed to crank ).
19. Scot. and North Eng. sturdy, stout, or strongly built.
20. Australian Slang. out of luck; unfortunate.
n.
21. Slang.
a. a dead body; corpse.
b. a formal or priggish person.
c. a poor tipper; tightwad.
d. a drunk.
22. Slang.
a. a fellow: lucky stiff; poor stiff.
b. a tramp; hobo.
c. a laborer.
23. Slang.
a. a forged check.
b. a promissory note or bill of exchange.
c. a letter or note, esp. if secret or smuggled.
24. Slang. a contestant, esp. a racehorse, sure to lose.
adv.
25. in or to a firm or rigid state: The wet shirt was frozen stiff.
26. completely, intensely, or extremely: I'm bored stiff by these lectures. We're scared stiff.
v.t.
27. Slang. to fail or refuse to tip (a waiter, porter, etc.).
28. Slang. to cheat; gyp; do out of: The company stiffed me out of a week's pay.
[ bef. 1000; ME (adj. and adv.); OE stif; c. G steif; akin to STIFLE 1 , STEEVE 1 ]
Syn. 1. unbending, unyielding. See firm 1 . 6. unrelenting, resolved, obstinate, pertinacious. 9. reserved, constrained, starched, prim. 10. graceless, inelegant.