A Topical Dictionary: Search for stiff

Dictionary Results For "stiff" [?]/[OPML]

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English

Etymology

stif|stīf, from , from ( compare ).

Pronunciation

IPA: /stɪf/
An audio transcript can be found at en-us-stiff.ogg
: Rhymes: Rhymes:English:-ɪf|-ɪf

Adjective

Of an object, rigid, hard to bend, inflexible.
In the Context of Of policies and rules and their application and enforcement, inflexible.
Of a person, formal in behavior, unrelaxed.
harsh|Harsh, severe.
: He was eventually caught, and given a stiff fine.
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.

Translations

Finnish:
French:
German: ,

Japanese: {{t-|ja|硬い|tr=katai|sc=Jpan}}
Russian: {{t|ru|жёсткий|tr=žóstkij|sc=Cyrl}}, {{t|ru|негибкий|tr=n'egíbkij|sc=Cyrl}}

Finnish:
Japanese: {{t-|ja|固い|tr=katai|sc=Jpan}}

Russian: {{t|ru|жёсткий|tr=žóstkij|sc=Cyrl}}, {{t|ru|непоколебимый|tr=n'epokol'ebímyj|sc=Cyrl}}, {{t|ru|непреклонный|tr=n'epr'eklónnyj|sc=Cyrl}}

Finnish:
Japanese: {{t-|ja|固い|tr=katai|sc=Jpan}}

Russian: {{t+|ru|холодный|tr=χolódnyj|sc=Cyrl}}, {{t|ru|чопорный|tr=čópornyj|sc=Cyrl}}

Finnish:
Japanese: {{t+|ja|堅い|tr=katai|sc=Jpan}}

Russian: {{t|ru|строгий|tr=strógij|sc=Cyrl}}, {{t+|ru|суровый|tr=suróvyj|sc=Cyrl}}

Finnish: ,
Japanese: {{t|ja|凝る|tr=koru|sc=Jpan}}

Russian: {{t|ru|окостеневший|tr=okost'en'évšij|sc=Cyrl}}, {{t|ru|одеревенелый|tr=od'er'ev'en'élyj|sc=Cyrl}}

Noun

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.
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.
A cadaver, a dead person.
A person who leaves (especially a restaurant) without paying the bill.

Translations

Finnish: , ,

Japanese: {{qualifier|informal|rude|offensive}} {{t|ja|オッサン|tr=ossan|sc=Jpan}}

Finnish:
Japanese: {{qualifier|slang|rude|offensive}} {{t|ja|カモ|tr=kamo|sc=Jpan}}

Russian: {{t|ru|лох|m|tr=loχ|sc=Cyrl}}

Bulgarian: {{t+|bg|труп|m|sc=Cyrl}}
French: {{t+|fr|macchabée|m}}

German: Steifer
Russian: {{t+|ru|труп|m|tr=trup|sc=Cyrl}}, {{t|ru|жмурик|m|tr=žmúrik|sc=Cyrl}}

German: {{t+|de|Zechpreller|m}}
Japanese: {{t|ja|食い逃げ|tr=kui-nige|sc=Jpan}}; {{t|ja|無銭飲食|tr=musen-inshoku|sc=Jpan}}

Verb

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…].
* 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.
* 2007, Mary Higgins Clark, I Heard That Song Before, page 154
*: Then he stiffed the waiter with a cheap tip.

Translations

Japanese: {{t|ja|払い忘れる|tr=harai-wasureru|sc=Jpan}}

Swedish: sjappa

Category:1000 English basic words Category:Death

ar:stiff fa:stiff fr:stiff io:stiff id:stiff it:stiff hu:stiff nl:stiff pl:stiff pt:stiff ru:stiff simple:stiff fi:stiff sv:stiff ta:stiff te:stiff vi:stiff zh:stiff

GNU Project's publication of CIDE, the Collaborative International Dictionary of English Stiff \Stiff\, a. [Compar. Stiffer; superl. Stiffest.] [OE.
stif, AS. st[imac]f; akin to D. stijf, G. steif, Dan. stiv,
Sw. styf, Icel. st[imac]fr, Lith. stipti to be stiff; cf. L.
stipes a post, trunk of a tree, stipare to press, compress.
Cf. Costive, Stifle, Stipulate, Stive to stuff.]
1. Not easily bent; not flexible or pliant; not limber or
flaccid; rigid; firm; as, stiff wood, paper, joints.
[1913 Webster]

[They] rising on stiff pennons, tower
The mid aerial sky. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]

2. Not liquid or fluid; thick and tenacious; inspissated;
neither soft nor hard; as, the paste is stiff.
[1913 Webster]

3. Firm; strong; violent; difficult to oppose; as, a stiff
gale or breeze.
[1913 Webster]

4. Not easily subdued; unyielding; stubborn; obstinate;
pertinacious; as, a stiff adversary.
[1913 Webster]

It is a shame to stand stiff in a foolish argument.
--Jer. Taylor.
[1913 Webster]

A war ensues: the Cretans own their cause,
Stiff to defend their hospitable laws. --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]

5. Not natural and easy; formal; constrained; affected;
starched; as, stiff behavior; a stiff style.
[1913 Webster]

The French are open, familiar, and talkative; the
Italians stiff, ceremonious, and reserved.
--Addison.
[1913 Webster]

6. Harsh; disagreeable; severe; hard to bear. [Obs. or
Colloq.] "This is stiff news." --Shak.
[1913 Webster]

7. (Naut.) Bearing a press of canvas without careening much;
as, a stiff vessel; -- opposed to crank. --Totten.
[1913 Webster]

8. Very large, strong, or costly; powerful; as, a stiff
charge; a stiff price. [Slang]
[1913 Webster]

Stiff neck, a condition of the neck such that the head can
not be moved without difficulty and pain.
[1913 Webster]

Syn: Rigid; inflexible; strong; hardly; stubborn; obstinate;
pertinacious; harsh; formal; constrained; affected;
starched; rigorous.
[1913 Webster]

WordNet stiff
adj 1: lacking ease in bending; not limber; "a stiff neck"; "stiff
joints"; "stiff hairs"
2: not moving or operating freely; "a stiff hinge"
3: powerful; "a stiff current"; "a stiff breeze"; "a stiff
drink"
4: rigidly formal; "a starchy manner"; "the letter was stiff
and formal"; "his prose has a buckram quality" [syn: starchy,
buckram]
5: hard to overcome or surmount; "a stiff hike"; "a stiff
exam"; "an uphill battle against a popular incumbant"
[syn: uphill]
6: of a collar; standing up rather than folded down; "an
uncomfortable standup collar"; "a stiff collar" [syn: stand-up]
7: incapable of or resistant to bending; "a rigid strip of
metal"; "a table made of rigid plastic"; "a palace
guardsman stiff as a poker" [syn: rigid]
8: very drunk [syn: besotted, blind drunk, blotto, crocked,
cockeyed, fuddled, loaded, pie-eyed, pissed, pixilated,
plastered, potty, slopped, sloshed, smashed, soaked,
soused, sozzled, squiffy, tiddly, tiddley, tight,
tipsy, wet]
n 1: an ordinary man; "a lucky stiff"; "a working stiff"
2: the dead body of a human being [syn: cadaver, corpse, clay,
remains]
adv 1: extremely; "bored stiff"; "frightened stiff"
2: in a stiff manner; "his hands lay stiffly" [syn: stiffly]

Moby Dictionary
Arab , Bowery bum , Latinate , a bit much , abandoned , abusive ,
adamant , adamantine , afflictive , alcoholic , all thumbs , aloof ,
arduous , arid , artificial , ashes , austere , awkward , balker ,
balky horse , barren , beach bum , beachcomber , beggar ,
beggarly fellow , blah , blank , blighter , blind , blind drunk ,
bloodless , blotto , blue-collar worker , blunderheaded , blundering ,
bo , body , bold , bombastic , bones , boorish , boundless , breadwinner ,
brisk , brittle , buckram , budmash , bum , bumbling , bummer , bungling ,
butterfingered , cadaver , caitiff , carcass , careless , carrion ,
cartilaginous , cast-iron , casual , casual laborer , ceremonious ,
challenging , characterless , cheapskate , chewy , chilly , clay ,
clownish , clumsy , clumsy-fisted , cohesive , cold , colorless ,
common laborer , compact , cool , coriaceous , corpse , corpus delicti ,
costly , cramped , crock , crowbait , cruel , cumbersome , cumbrous ,
day laborer , dead , dead as mutton , dead body , dead man ,
dead person , dear , dear-bought , decedent , dense , derelict ,
determined , devil , difficult , dismal , distressing , dog , dogged ,
dogie , dour , draggy , drastic , drearisome , dreary , drifter ,
drunkard , dry , dry bones , dryasdust , dull , durable , dust , dusty ,
earth , effete , egregious , elephantine , embalmed corpse , employee ,
empty , energetic , enormous , etiolated , exaggerated , excessive ,
excruciating , exhausting , exorbitant , expensive , extravagant ,
extreme , fabulous , factory worker , fade , fancy , fatiguing , fibrous ,
fingers all thumbs , firm , fit for sea , flat , flinty , flunky ,
food for worms , forced , forceful , formal , free lance , free-lancer ,
fresh , full-time worker , fumbling , fundamentalist , gamin , gamine ,
garron , gauche , gawkish , gawky , gigantic , gluttonous , goat ,
gone to seed , good-for-naught , good-for-nothing , graceless , grim ,
gristly , guinde , gusty , guttersnipe , hack , had , halting ,
ham-fisted , ham-handed , hand , hard , hard-core , hardened , hardy ,
harrowing , harsh , haughty , heavy , heavy-handed , helpless ,
hidebound , high , high-priced , ho-hum , hobo , hollow , homeless waif ,
howling , hulking , hulky , human wreck , hurtful , hyperbolic ,
hypertrophied , idler , immoderate , immovable , immutable , implacable ,
impliable , in buckram , inane , incontinent , indomitable ,
industrial worker , inelastic , inelegant , inexcitable , inexorable ,
inflexible , inkhorn , inordinate , insipid , intemperate , intense ,
intransigent , iron , ironbound , ironclad , ironhanded ,
irreconcilable , jade , jejune , jobber , jobholder , jughead , labored ,
laborer , laboring man , laborious , landloper , lasting ,
late lamented , lazzarone , leaden , leatherlike , leathery , left-hand ,
left-handed , lifeless , loafer , losel , loutish , low-spirited ,
lowlife , lubberly , lumbering , lumpish , luxurious , maladroit ,
mannered , mauvais sujet , mean wretch , menial , merciless , migrant ,
miser , moiler , monstrous , mortal remains , mucker , mudlark ,
mummification , mummy , muscle-bound , nag , navvy , no-good ,
not affordable , oafish , obdurate , obstinate , of great cost ,
office temporary , on the downgrade , organic remains , orthodox , out ,
out cold , out of bounds , out of condition , out of shape ,
out of sight , out of training , outrageous , overbig , overcome ,
overdeveloped , overgreat , overgrown , overlarge , overmuch ,
overpowering , overweening , overwhelming , painful , pale , pallid ,
paralyzed , passed out , pauvre diable , pedantic , pedestrian ,
petrified , piker , pilgarlic , plodding , plug , pointless , pokerlike ,
poky , pompous , ponderous , poor creature , poor devil , potent ,
powerful , premium , pricey , prim , procrustean , proletarian ,
punishing , punitive , purist , puristic , puritan , puritanic ,
ragamuffin , ragman , ragpicker , ramrodlike , relentless , relics ,
reliquiae , remains , renitent , reserved , resistant , resolute ,
resolved , rich , rigid , rigorist , rigoristic , rigorous , roarer ,
rock-ribbed , rockbound , rodlike , rogue , ropy , rosinante , rough ,
rounder , roustabout , run to seed , rusty , sad case , sad sack ,
salaried worker , scalawag , sea-kindly , seaworthy ,
self-employed person , servant , sesquipedalian , severe , sinewy ,
skeleton , ski bum , skid-row bum , skinflint , slipping , sloppy , slow ,
snobbish , snooty , snug , soft , solemn , solid , solidified , spanking ,
spiritless , standoffish , starch , starched , starchy , stark , staunch ,
steady , steely , steep , sterile , stern , stiff as buckram , stiffened ,
stilted , stodgy , stone-cold , stone-dead , stoned , straightlaced ,
straitlaced , stray , street Arab , street urchin , stringy , strong ,
stubborn , stuffy , sumptuous , sundowner , superficial , surf bum ,
swagman , swagsman , tasteless , tatterdemalion , taut , tedious ,
temporary , tenacious , tender , tenement of clay , tennis bum , tense ,
the dead , the deceased , the defunct , the departed , the loved one ,
thick , tight , tightwad , tiring , toiler , toilsome , too much , top ,
tormenting , torturous , tough , tough as leather , tramp , truant ,
turgid , turnpiker , unaffected , unalterable , unbearable , unbending ,
unbridled , unchangeable , uncompromising , unconscionable , uncouth ,
under the table , undue , unflexible , unfriendly , ungainly , ungiving ,
ungraceful , unhandy , Paul Kinlan

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English

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Translations

Noun

See also

Translations

Verb

Translations