stiff: Meaning and Definition of

stiff

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. (of a vessel) having a high resistance to rolling; stable (opposed to crank).
19. sturdy, stout, or strongly built.
20. out of luck; unfortunate.

1. a dead body; corpse.
2. a formal or priggish person.
3. a poor tipper; tightwad.
4. a drunk.
2. lucky stiff; poor stiff.
1. a fellow:lucky stiff; poor stiff.
2. a tramp; hobo.
3. a laborer.
1. a forged check.
2. a promissory note or bill of exchange.
3. a letter or note, esp. if secret or smuggled.
4. a contestant, esp. a racehorse, sure to lose.

1. in or to a firm or rigid state: The wet shirt was frozen stiff.
2. completely, intensely, or extremely: I'm bored stiff by these lectures. We're scared stiff.

1. to fail or refuse to tip (a waiter, porter, etc.).
2. to cheat; gyp; do out of: The company stiffed me out of a week's pay.