stiff

B2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /stɪf/ See IPA manual

adj noun adv Freq #5123

Meanings

1

adj
Hard to bend or move; rigid.

The old hinge was stiff and would not open easily.
2

adj
Sore and hard to move, usually after exercise.

My legs are stiff after climbing that hill yesterday.
3

adj
Harsh or severe.

He was caught and given a stiff fine.
4

adj
Strong and powerful.

A stiff breeze blew the leaves across the yard.
5

adv
Extremely; very much.

The lecture was so dull that I was bored stiff.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · hard to bend or move; rigid. firm rigid

3 adj · harsh or severe. heavy

More frozen hardhardenedimmalleable inflexible ossified petrified solid stark stubborn

Opposites

flexible loose malleable slack soft

Word family

Forms stifferstiffeststiffs

Derived forms nonstiffoverstiffstiff-armstiff-backedstiff-heartedstiff-lippedstiff-neckedstiffenstiffishstifflegstifflikestiffnecked

Related forms bindlestiff

Common collocations

stiff neck Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Middle English stiff, stiffe, stif, from Old English stīf, from Proto-West Germanic *stīf, from Proto-Germanic *stīfaz, from Proto-Indo-European *steypós. See also West Frisian stiif, Dutch stijf, Norwegian Bokmål stiv, German steif; also Latin stīpes, stīpō, from which English stevedore. The expected Modern English form would be /staɪf/; /stɪf/ is probably originally from compounds such as stiffly, where the vowel was shortened before a consonant cluster.

*steyp- Proto-Indo-European stiff Middle English stīf Old English *stīf Proto-West Germanic *stīfaz Proto-Germanic *steypós Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

# stiff

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** adj, noun, adv
**IPA (US):** stɪf
**Frequency rank:** 5123

## Meanings
1. Hard to bend or move; rigid.
2. Sore and hard to move, usually after exercise.
3. Harsh or severe.
4. Strong and powerful.
5. Extremely; very much.

## Examples
- The old hinge was stiff and would not open easily.
- My legs are stiff after climbing that hill yesterday.
- He was caught and given a stiff fine.
- A stiff breeze blew the leaves across the yard.
- The lecture was so dull that I was bored stiff.

## Synonyms
- firm
- frozen
- hard
- hardened
- immalleable
- inflexible
- ossified
- petrified
- rigid
- solid
- stark
- stubborn

## Antonyms
- flexible
- loose
- malleable
- slack
- soft

## Derived Forms
- nonstiff
- overstiff
- stiff-arm
- stiff-backed
- stiff-hearted
- stiff-lipped
- stiff-necked
- stiffen
- stiffish
- stiffleg
- stifflike
- stiffnecked

## Related Forms
- bindlestiff

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *steyp-
- Root: stiff
- Root: stīf
- Root: *stīf
- Root: *stīfaz
- Root: *steypós

## Etymology
From Middle English stiff, stiffe, stif, from Old English stīf, from Proto-West Germanic *stīf, from Proto-Germanic *stīfaz, from Proto-Indo-European *steypós. See also West Frisian stiif, Dutch stijf, Norwegian Bokmål stiv, German steif; also Latin stīpes, stīpō, from which English stevedore. The expected Modern English form would be /staɪf/; /stɪf/ is probably originally from compounds such as stiffly, where the vowel was shortened before a consonant cluster.

## AI Etymology
Stiff is from Middle English stiff, stiffe, stif, from Old English stīf, from Proto-West Germanic *stīf, from Proto-Germanic *stīfaz, from Proto-Indo-European *steypós. See also West Frisian stiif, Dutch stijf, Norwegian Bokmål stiv, German steif; also Latin stīpes, stīpō, from which English stevedore. The expected Modern English form would be /staɪf/; /stɪf/ is probably originally from compounds such as stiffly, where the vowel was shortened before a consonant cluster.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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