Meaning of "stiff" in the English dictionary

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD STIFF

Old English stīf; related to Old Norse stīfla to dam up, Middle Low German stīf stiff, Latin stīpēs wooden post, stīpāre to press.

Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.

PRONUNCIATION OF STIFF

stiff  [stɪf]

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF STIFF

Stiff is a verb and can also act as a noun, an adjective and an adverb.

A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

The adjective is the word that accompanies the noun to determine or qualify it.

The verb is the part of the sentence that is conjugated and expresses action and state of being.

See the conjugation of the verb stiff in English.

The adverb is an invariable part of the sentence that can change, explain or simplify a verb or another adverb.

WHAT DOES STIFF MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Stiff

Stiff may refer to: ▪ Stiff, a characteristic used to describe people in the military or someone who appears disciplined ▪ Stiff, a human corpse ▪ Stiffness, a material's resistance to bending ▪ Stiff, a novel by Shane Maloney in his Murray Whelan series ▪ Stiff, an Australian TV movie based on the novel, starring David Wenham ▪ Stiff, how a wrestler attacks an opponent ▪ Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, a book by Mary Roach ▪ Stiff Records, a British record label ▪ Seattle's True Independent Film Festival, an annual event ▪ Jimmy Stiff, former member of American rock band Jackyl...

Definition of stiff in the English dictionary

The first definition of stiff in the dictionary is not easily bent; rigid; inflexible. Other definition of stiff is not working or moving easily or smoothly. Stiff is also difficult to accept in its severity or harshness.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO STIFF

PRESENT

Present

I stiff

you stiff

he/she/it stiffs

we stiff

you stiff

they stiff

Present continuous

I am stiffing

you are stiffing

he/she/it is stiffing

we are stiffing

you are stiffing

they are stiffing

Present perfect

I have stiffed

you have stiffed

he/she/it has stiffed

we have stiffed

you have stiffed

they have stiffed

Present perfect continuous

I have been stiffing

you have been stiffing

he/she/it has been stiffing

we have been stiffing

you have been stiffing

they have been stiffing

Present tense is used to refer to circumstances that exist at the present time or over a period that includes the present time. The present perfect refers to past events, although it can be considered to denote primarily the resulting present situation rather than the events themselves.

PAST

Past

I stiffed

you stiffed

he/she/it stiffed

we stiffed

you stiffed

they stiffed

Past continuous

I was stiffing

you were stiffing

he/she/it was stiffing

we were stiffing

you were stiffing

they were stiffing

Past perfect

I had stiffed

you had stiffed

he/she/it had stiffed

we had stiffed

you had stiffed

they had stiffed

Past perfect continuous

I had been stiffing

you had been stiffing

he/she/it had been stiffing

we had been stiffing

you had been stiffing

they had been stiffing

Past tense forms express circumstances existing at some time in the past,

FUTURE

Future

I will stiff

you will stiff

he/she/it will stiff

we will stiff

you will stiff

they will stiff

Future continuous

I will be stiffing

you will be stiffing

he/she/it will be stiffing

we will be stiffing

you will be stiffing

they will be stiffing

Future perfect

I will have stiffed

you will have stiffed

he/she/it will have stiffed

we will have stiffed

you will have stiffed

they will have stiffed

Future perfect continuous

I will have been stiffing

you will have been stiffing

he/she/it will have been stiffing

we will have been stiffing

you will have been stiffing

they will have been stiffing

The future is used to express circumstances that will occur at a later time.

CONDITIONAL

Conditional

I would stiff

you would stiff

he/she/it would stiff

we would stiff

you would stiff

they would stiff

Conditional continuous

I would be stiffing

you would be stiffing

he/she/it would be stiffing

we would be stiffing

you would be stiffing

they would be stiffing

Conditional perfect

I would have stiff

you would have stiff

he/she/it would have stiff

we would have stiff

you would have stiff

they would have stiff

Conditional perfect continuous

I would have been stiffing

you would have been stiffing

he/she/it would have been stiffing

we would have been stiffing

you would have been stiffing

they would have been stiffing

Conditional or "future-in-the-past" tense refers to hypothetical or possible actions.

IMPERATIVE

Imperative

you stiff
we let´s stiff
you stiff

The imperative is used to form commands or requests.

NONFINITE VERB FORMS

Infinitive

to stiff

Past participle

stiffed

Present Participle

stiffing

Infinitive shows the action beyond temporal perspective. The present participle or gerund shows the action during the session. The past participle shows the action after completion.

SYNONYMS OF «STIFF»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «stiff» and belong to the same grammatical category.

synonyms of stiff

alcoholic · arduous · arthritic · artificial · austere · awkward · brisk · brittle · ceremonious · chilly · clumsy · cold · constrained · creaky · crude · cruel · determined · difficult · drastic · exacting · extreme · fatiguing · firm · forced · formal · formidable · fresh · graceless · great · hard · hardened · harsh · heavy · inelastic · inelegant · inexorable · inflexible · intoxicating · jerky · laborious · laboured · mannered · oppressive · pitiless · pompous · potent · powerful · priggish · prim · punctilious · reserved · resolute · rheumaticky · rigid · rigorous · severe · sharp · solid · solidified · spirited · standoffish · starchy · steely · stilted · strict · stringent · strong · taut · tense · tight · tough · trying · unbending · uneasy · unflagging · ungainly · ungraceful · unnatural · unrelaxed · unsupple · unyielding · uphill · vigorous · wooden

TRANSLATION OF STIFF

Find out the translation of stiff to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of stiff from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «stiff» in English.

• Translator English - Chinese: 坚硬的
• Translator English - Spanish: rígido
• English: stiff
• Translator English - Hindi: कड़ी
• Translator English - Arabic: جَامِد
• Translator English - Russian: жесткий
• Translator English - Portuguese: rígido
• Translator English - Bengali: শক্ত
• Translator English - French: raide
• Translator English - Malay: Sengit
• Translator English - German: steif
• Translator English - Japanese: 堅い
• Translator English - Korean: 딱딱한
• Translator English - Javanese: Kaku
• Translator English - Vietnamese: cứng
• Translator English - Tamil: கடினமான
• Translator English - Marathi: ताठ
• Translator English - Turkish: katı
• Translator English - Italian: rigido
• Translator English - Polish: sztywny
• Translator English - Ukrainian: твердий
• Translator English - Romanian: rigid
• Translator English - Greek: δύσκαμπτος
• Translator English - Afrikaans: styf
• Translator English - Swedish: stel
• Translator English - Norwegian: stiv

10 QUOTES WITH «STIFF»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word stiff.

1

Josef Albers

I was at the Royal Art School. That was a preparatory school specially for art teachers. You see, it was not so much for the development of artists. But we had there terribly stiff training.

2

John Boorman

There were two sides to David Lean: on the one side, he was kind of a rather stiff, disciplined Englishman. And then he had this kind of romantic side to him. I think being true to both sides of your nature is important.

3

Thomas Edward Brown

The best scheme of Phonetics is a stiff uncertain thing.

4

Earl Campbell

I had two things I could do: I could run over you, and I could put a good stiff arm on you. That was about it.

5

Emily Carr

Twenty can't be expected to tolerate sixty in all things, and sixty gets bored stiff with twenty's eternal love affairs.

6

Phoebe Cary

And though hard be the task, 'Keep a stiff upper lip'.

7

John Cassavetes

I think people are very stiff. Money makes people stiff, and we want it, and we have to pay the penalty. I never agreed with stiffness. I think people have an understanding of what their life is. I define success by being a realist and not humiliating people. I'm a revolutionary - but not in the political sense.

8

Gilbert K. Chesterton

A stiff apology is a second insult... The injured party does not want to be compensated because he has been wronged; he wants to be healed because he has been hurt.

9

Helena Christensen

So many times I've wanted to crack up, standing there stiff while seven women are crawling round my toes fixing hems and the designer's having a freak-out because the denim cuffs are crooked. I'm on the verge of hysteria.

10

Anton Corbijn

I only make storyboards for action scenes. Once you make a storyboard, you don't film; it can be a stiff move.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «STIFF»

Discover the use of stiff in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to stiff and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

In this fascinating account, Mary Roach visits the good deeds of cadavers over the centuries and tells the engrossing story of our bodies when we are no longer with them.

Mary Roach, 2004

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

A look inside the world of forensics examines the use of human cadavers in a wide range of endeavors, including research into new surgical procedures, space exploration, and a Tennessee human decay research facility.

Mary Roach, 2003

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

Mary Roach's Stiff lifts the lid off what happens to our bodies once we have died. Bold, original and with a delightful eye for detail, Roach tells us everything we wanted to know about this new frontier in medical science.

Mary Roach, 2012

Board Stiff Three: Preparing for the Anesthesia Orals

The new edition of this popular anesthesia review book delivers the most important things students need to know for the boards. It features an extensive section with self-assessment questions and a bonus DVD with simulated board scenarios.

Christopher J. Gallagher, 2008

Scared Stiff

When their mother disappears, two brothers go to stay with a great uncle in a mobile home park next to an abandoned amusement park and begin a search which puts them in danger.

Willo Davis Roberts, 2001

Frozen Stiff

What begins as a two-night camping and kayaking trek in the untamed Alaskan wilderness turns into a test of survival for Cody and her cousin Derek.

Sherry Shahan, 2011

Stiff

And after that, it gets personal. Because don't you just hate it when somebody tries to kill you and you don't know who or why? 'Stiff is hilarious…a witty, controversial, intelligent book, both genuinely frightening and genuinely funny.

Shane Maloney, 2010

Persuasive Communication

This popular text provides a comprehensive introduction to the study of persuasive messages and their effects.

James Brian Stiff, Paul A. Mongeau, 2003

Scared Stiff: Tales of Sex and Death

" For this edition, Campbell has added three new stories which have never before appeared in book form. At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

Ramsey Campbell, 2003

Working Stiff: A Revivalist Novel

Bryn Davis was killed on the job after discovering her bosses were selling a drug designed to resurrect the dead.

Rachel Caine, 2011

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «STIFF»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term stiff is used in the context of the following news items.

Stiff neck delays Piscotty's home debut

Piscotty thinks his neck got stiff sleeping in his St. Louis hotel bed once he arrived here early Thursday morning from Chicago. “It was one of those fluke things,” ... «STLtoday.com, Jul 15»

Review: 'Lucky Stiff,' Still Farcical, Returns as a Movie

'Lucky Stiff' is the work of writers who, with seasoning and much tougher editing and direction, might give their generation its own 'Bells Are Ringing' or 'Pajama ... «New York Times, Jul 15»

Michael Cuddyer lands on Mets' bench with stiff neck

SAN DIEGO — Left fielder Michael Cuddyer was out of the lineup Wednesday night with what the team said was a stiff neck. The 36-year-old said he began to ... «New York Daily News, Jun 15»

Movie Musical 'Lucky Stiff' to be Released by Abramorama and The …

Distributors Abramorama and The Orchard have teamed up to release “Lucky Stiff,” a movie musical starring a slew of Broadway talent, this summer. Broadway ... «Variety, Apr 15»

Dr. Roach: Keep looking for stiff, swollen knee cause

Dear Dr. Roach: Months ago, my right lower leg and knee became swollen, stiff and painful. My GP did an EKG (normal) and ordered a sonogram for detection of ... «The Detroit News, Apr 15»

Yeovil doctor treated patient with stiff neck by placing 'penis in her …

The woman, now aged 37, said that Dr Habeeb Latheef was giving her a sensitivity test for her stiff neck and headache when the incident happened at Hendford ... «Western Gazette, Apr 15»

Robert Stiff's pregnant daughter kicked in the stomach by burglar in …

The pregnant daughter of a millionaire was kicked in the stomach by a burglar during an armed raid on their family home. Katie Stiff was with her mother ... «Daily Mail, Jan 15»

ESPN's Hannah Storm Stiff-Arms Makeup Artist on Live TV

This makeup artist just wanted to put some finishing touches on ESPN's Hannah Storm. However, the cameras—perhaps unexpectedly—panned to Storm, ... «Bleacher Report, Jan 15»

Robert Stiff's wife and daughters attacked by masked gunman

Robert Stiff's wife, Catherine, and one of his two daughters, aged in her 20s, were left needing hospital treatment after their £5 million home was targeted by the ... «Daily Mail, Nov 14»

The father who's literally scared STIFF every time he's startled

A father suffers from a rare neurological disorder which means he is literally scared stiff. Andrew Latham has hyperekplexia, a neurological syndrome that stops ... «Daily Mail, Sep 14»