stiffadjective
uk/stɪf/us/stɪf/stiff adjective (FIRM)
B2 firm or hard:
B2 not easily bent or moved:
B2 If you are stiff or part of your body is stiff, your muscles hurt when they are moved:
More examples
- After walking through the snow, my feet were frozen stiff.
- You'll need a stiff brush to scrape off the rust.
- Whisk the egg whites until stiff.
- I'm a bit stiff after that run yesterday.
- She suffers terribly in the winter when it's cold and her joints get stiff.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Hard and firm
- (as) stiff/straight as a ramrod idiom
- adamantine
- cast iron
- crisp
- crispy
- crunchy
- fossilized
- hard
- harden
- horny
- ossification
- ossify
- petrified
- ramrod
- solid
- stiffly
- stiffness
- temper
- tense
- unyielding
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stiff adjective (NOT RELAXED)
C2 behaving in a way that is formal and not relaxed:
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Manners & levels of formality
- buttoned-down
- ceremonial
- ceremonious
- ceremony
- decency
- formal
- formally
- genteel
- gentility
- grace
- ground rules
- impropriety
- not the done thing idiom
- propriety
- pukka
- refinement
- solemnity
- stand on ceremony idiom
- valediction
- valedictory
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stiff adjective (SEVERE)
C2 severe and difficult:
a strong wind
C2 an alcoholic drink that is very strong:
A stiff price is very expensive:
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Serious and severe
- acute
- chronic
- critical
- critically
- desperate
- dire
- egregious
- gravity
- grievous
- heaviness
- heavy
- mortal
- serious
- seriously
- severely
- severity
- stiffness
- swingeing
- terminal
- utmost
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
stiffadverb
uk/stɪf/us/stɪf/B2 very much, or to a great degree:
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Linguistics: very & extreme
- abject
- awful
- beyond
- classic
- classical
- deadly
- devastating
- drop dead! idiom
- eminently
- esp
- especially
- heartily
- impossibly
- perfect
- sheer
- specially
- supremely
- thoroughly
- whole
- wide
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stiffnoun [ C ]
uk/stɪf/us/stɪf/stiff noun [ C ] (PERSON)
US informal a person of the type described:
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
People in general
- beggar
- bird
- body
- breed
- bugger
- coot
- creature
- devil
- landlubber
- man
- mankind
- number
- party
- peeps
- person
- quarter
- rogue
- sod
- sort
- soul
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stiff noun [ C ] (BODY)
slang a dead body:
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Death and dying
- be pushing up (the) daisies idiom
- bereave
- bite
- bury
- buy the farm idiom
- deceased
- depart
- done
- drop
- expire
- foot
- gone
- inquest
- loss
- peg
- posthumous
- road kill
- SIDS
- sudden infant death syndrome
- the disappeared
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stiffverb [ T ]
uk/stɪf/us/stɪf/to not pay someone money that you owe them :